The legal system of India is a complex and diverse framework that reflects the country's rich cultural and historical traditions. The Indian legal system is based on the British common law system, which was introduced during the colonial period, as well as on traditional Indian legal systems.
It is divided into two main branches: civil law and criminal law. The civil law system governs private disputes between individuals or entities, while criminal law deals with offenses against the state and society.
There are several layers of courts, including the Supreme Court of India, high courts, district courts, and subordinate courts. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court and has the power to interpret the constitution and make binding decisions on legal matters.
The legal system in India has a strong emphasis on the rule of law and the protection of individual rights and freedoms. The Constitution of India guarantees fundamental rights to its citizens, including the right to equality, freedom of speech and expression, and the right to life and liberty.
New Parliament House
Secretariat Building
Please be reminded that cases or judgments are not indexed in FIND@HKUL. To look for full text cases, you will have to search in relevant legal databases, or search by the full title of a law report in FIND@HKUL with "Books+" search scope.
Alternatively, you may change to Advance Search and enter the following search term for all available law reports within the HKUL Collection:
Regarded as one of the major law reports in India, A.I.R. covers all reportable judgments of the Courts in India, from High Courts to Supreme Court. Yearly referencer and annual index of the Supreme Court can also be found. In general, total number of volumes varies year by year, from 8 to 15 volumes per year.
Supreme Court Reports [SCR]
Published under the authority of Supreme Court of India by the Manager of Publications, Civil Lines, Delhi, this title contains cases determined by the Supreme Court of India starting from the mid-20th century.
Law Reports, Indian Appeals [LR Ind App]
Published by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales, this title focused appeal cases in the Privy Council during the time India was a British Colony.
The official website of the Supreme Court of India provides judgments made under the Supreme Court, with fruitful information about the institution, its history, and legal materials on different subjects. You may also find annual reports, starting from the early 21st century, and the Supreme Court Reports (S.C.R.) of selected years on this website.
Maintained by the National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, this site provides a very comprehensive consolidation of cases and judgments made under the High Courts, District and Taluka Courts of India. Here, you can obtain directional instructions to different courts and useful legal materials.
The Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice
Under the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Legislative Department is responsible for the drafting of principal legislation for the Government of India. Various types of documents are available via this site, including Acts of Parliaments, Central Ordinances and Legislations, institution’s annual reports and etc. Availability of selected materials can be dated back to 1800s.
Gazette of India is available for online access, with the earliest available date back to 1922. Access of materials can be done by browsing with date, or direct search with Gazette/ Content ID, reference type and/or keywords. State Gazettes are also available via this site, directing you to the corresponding page. Please note that documents are published in Hindi.
Treaties
The United Nations Treaty Collection includes a large number of treaties of different countries. Here, you may find treaties of India via its depositary, with status of it and relevant historical information.
Language of reporting used is mainly in Hindi in India. The Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, offers several documents illustrating the glossary of legal words and expression, especially from English to Hindi and vice versa.
Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia)
With its aim to promote free access of law, LIIofIndia serves as an all-in-one platform for you to access cases made by different courts. With its connection to the LII movement, resources available via other LIIs (e.g. AsianLII, CommonLII and WorldLII) can also be easily directed and accessed.
Supported by Manupatra, this platform serves to commit to its social responsibility in making law available to the general public, with free access to Legislation in India. Here, you may find below contents, dating back to 2021: