Tribalization and threat to independence of judiciary — Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021

Imagine a cricket match in which the umpire's contract is renewed every four years by the captain of one of the teams. However honest the umpire is, would you trust his decisions? That is the worry behind tribunals that decide disputes against the Government while depending on the Government for appointment, tenure and funding. The syllabus heading says tribalization; it means tribunalisation, the spread of tribunals in place of courts, and the question is whether it has gone too far.

In two minutes

Tribunalisation moves adjudication out of the courts for speed and expertise, but unless tribunal members are chosen, paid and protected independently of the executive, it threatens the independence of the judiciary, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down legislation that weakened that independence.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Administrative Law on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.