How to evaluate the Indian legal system?

Because learning needs to understand the Indian legal system, especially the commercial legal system. We hope there are great gods who can popularize India’s legal system, especially in the field of civil and commercial affairs.

There is still a big difference between civil and commercial matters, we may only briefly talk about the company law in commercial law.

In a word, the Indian company law copied British law, but because of the actual situation in India, it was not so advanced. A brief excerpt from the previous publications:

After the Indian National Uprising was suppressed by the British in 1857, the British ended the system of managing India through the East India Company and placed India under direct British rule.

 The British Parliament passed the “Government of India Act” (The Government of India) in 1858. Act of 1858), officially established a British-style governance structure and governance system in India.

Because India needs to establish a new British-style legal system within a short period of time, and because it is affected by the 19th century codification movement, it adopted a large number of statutory forms when transplanting British law.

 Some Indian scholars once said that “our law is still common law in nature, statutory law provisions exist for the realization of the spirit of common law, and legal provisions are appendices and errata of common law”.

 In the subsequent legislative movement from 1859 to 1882, India codified the 1859 “The Code of Civil Procedure” (The Code of Civil Procedure), the 1861 “The Criminal Procedure Code” (The Criminal Procedure Code), and the 1860 “Criminal Code” “(The Indian Penal Code), The Indian Contract Act of 1872, The Indian Evidence Act of 1872 and The Negotiable Instruments Act of 1881, etc. Numerous statutes.

British Law Impact in Indian Company Laws

As far as the localized legislation of India’s “Company Law” is concerned, during the British colonial rule for more than a hundred years, India has been influenced by British company law and commercial law, and has gradually established its own perfection based on British law, company law system.

 Its legislation and evolution spanned the period when the East India Company ruled India and the period after the 1857 uprising.

At the end of the 18th century, a large number of companies operating in India were actually companies registered in the United Kingdom.

As India’s interests in the United Kingdom became more and more prominent, in order to improve economic and management efficiency, the British authorities considered it necessary to directly operate in India, carry out the legislation of company law, and conduct more direct and effective management of Indian commercial activities. Therefore, the “Joint Stock Companies Act 1850” enacted in the United Kingdom in 1850 stipulated for the first time that a joint stock company (Joint Stock Company) be directly registered in India, and the law authorized the Bombay High Court, Calcutta (Calcutta) High Court and Madras (Madras). High Court can directly accept the registration of Indian companies.

Subsequently, the Indian company law followed the revision of the British company law, and was also revised accordingly. After Britain revised the company law again in 1908, India also enacted the legislation and revision of the company law in 1913. This company law lasted until 1950, when the Second World War ended. At this time, India had also become independent from the United Kingdom, and India, which was waiting to be rejuvenated, launched legislative campaigns in various fields.

Formation of the Company Law Committee

That year, the Indian government appointed a group of experts and scholars to form the Indian Company Law Committee, requesting it to review and amend the Company Law of 1913 based on the actual situation in India.

The committee made a summary report on its opinions in 1952, and in 1956 formulated the Company Law of 1956, which had far-reaching significance and governed Indian commercial law for more than half a century.[5] But in fact, at this stage, although India hopes to formulate an “Indian” Company Law based on India’s own economic, social and political context (Social-economic and Political Context), India’s 1956 Company Law is very important.

To a large extent, it copied the “Company Act” of 1948 in the United Kingdom, and only used a few words to deal with the completely different national conditions and realities between India and the United Kingdom.

This also reflects the impact of the British system and institutions on India. Deeply, English law has been cherished and continued to be adopted as the colonial legacy of India.

Is the British Era Indian Contracts Act still valid?

Therefore, if you have an understanding of the commercial legal system of British law (such as contracts, the current Indian contract law was formulated in 1872, which is the British Indian era, and is still valid). Then it is very easy to understand the commercial legal system of India, even you can draw inferences about it.

But the problem is that with regard to the differences in subtle systems and regulations, this is actually well understood.

Just like other Asian countries as China and Taiwan, decades have led to differences in the naming of some terms, such as intellectual property rights and intellectual property rights, and some specific systems and regulations. There are also differences in arrangements.

 In addition, the Indian personal law is more complicated, which leads to the specialization of the legal subject and the legal relationship. For example, there is a family called “HUF”, which is an undivided family in India, which is a kind of “collection of people”, similar to common ownership. .

Are there any good recommendations for Indian law databases?

Of course, if you have enough time, you can go to the law school in India. The best law school in India is National Law School of India University, in Bangalore. Although advertising law does not allow it, India It is well-known in the industry.

Of course, Jindel Law School is also good now. This one is near Delhi. There are foreign teachers and many foreign students, and it is well internationalized.

This company law of 1850 is based entirely on the company law enacted in 1844 in the United Kingdom mentioned above. However, this law did not grant limited liability status to the banking and insurance industries, and it was not until 1860 that such industries were granted limited liability status.

Conclusion

It is worth noting that although India enacted a new “Company Law” in 2013, some provisions in the 1956 “Company Law” have not yet expired, and some provisions in the 2013 “Company Law” have not yet taken effect. The “Company Law” in 1988 is still playing a role to a certain extent, which shows its profound impact.

Author’s Bio

Name: Ajay Rastogi

Educational Qualification: LLB

Profession: Advocate / Lawyer

Work Experience: 20 Years of Legal Practice

Profile Link: https://lawjc.com/members/advajayrastogi/