ILGIs and justice dispensation

An important aspect of ILGIs is the key role they play in maintaining community harmony. ILGIs provide an important forum for arbitrating disputes at the local level. Not all ILGIs have a formal mandate to arbitrate disputes.

The negative aspect of alternate justice dispensation

Popular media and political commentators often deride these institutions for their brutal enforcement of established hierarchies such as caste and gender hierarchies. Some ILGIs do conform to this image. Marginalised groups and women find little or no representation in such forums either as participants or decision makers. Women’s cases are often argued and represented by male relatives. The media is replete with horrific stories of the ways in which ILGIs suppress caste and gender transgressions. But this presents only one side of the picture.

Plurality of justice systems

Plurality of justice systems – the co-existence of robust informal systems alongside formal legal systems – is a reality in many developing countries. Alternate dispute resolution mechanisms, including those rooted in customary law, still prevail in much of east and southern Africa.

In parts of Nigeria, such as Ibadan, traditional Yoruba judicial processes are in use in resolving disputes. In South Africa traditional Inkosi and Indunas (chiefs and ward councillors) continue to dispense justice to their clan members. Indigenous communities in rural Peru have been involved in delivering justice and governance since before the Spanish invasion, and provide useful services even today. In Bangladesh Shalishs have the mandate to administer justice at the village level.

These alternate forms of justice flourish because they are accessible, affordable, acceptable (as they are rooted in local norms), and quick. Rather than dispensing with the informal institutions, many countries are taking steps to integrate them within the formal legal set-up. By training people in processes of formal legal practices, by providing paralegal assistance, by linking ILGIs with NGOs and other local institutions, steps have been taken to reduce the distance between formal and informal dispute-resolution mechanisms, enhancing the effectiveness and legitimacy of both.

ILGIs as alternate forum of justice

Research indicates that ILGIs are the preferred choice for a majority of the rural population for speedy justice dispensation despite the presence of formal courts and police stations. This continued reliance is not because ILGIs uphold local traditions and customs. ILGIs are constantly evolving. Their judgments reflect the prevailing views of accepted social mores and behaviour in rural societies.

Since these views are not static but change with time and in response to broader societal changes, the nature of justice has also changed within the village. For instance, through a unique experiment in Maharashtra in India, a local NGO has successfully countered gender bias by encouraging village women to regularly attend the meetings of the local caste panchayat. Further, many poorer communities in urban India are adopting the ‘panchayat’ mode of dispute resolution in an effort to bring down crime in urban slums.

Increasingly, researchers are urging policymakers to recognise the important role played by indigenous institutions and customary laws before embarking on any kind of large-scale judicial reform.