Indian Judicial system:

i. Single and Integrated Judicial System: The Constitution establishes a single integrated judicial system for the whole of India. The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the country and below it are the High Courts at the state level. Other courts (Subordinate Courts) work under the High Courts. The Supreme Court controls and runs the judicial administration of India. All courts in India form links of a single judicial system.

ii. Judiciary as the Interpreter of the Constitution: The Constitution of India is a written and enacted constitution. The right to interpret and clarify the Constitution has been given to the Supreme Court. It is the final interpreter of the provisions of the Constitution of India.

iii. Judicial Review: The Constitution of India is the supreme law of the land. The Supreme Court acts as the interpreter and protector of the Constitution. It is the guardian of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people. For performing this role, it exercises the power of judicial review. The Supreme Court has the power to determine the constitutional validity of all laws. It can reject any such law which is held to be unconstitutional. High Courts also exercise this power.

iv. Guardian of Fundamental Rights: Indian judiciary acts as the guardian of fundamental rights and freedoms of the people. The people have the Right to Constitutional Remedies under which they can seek the protection of the courts for preventing a violation or for meeting any threat to their rights. The Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power to issue writs for this purpose.

USA and UK Judicial System:

i. A note on states - Much like the main subdivisions of the U.K. (i.e. England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), the states of the U.S. have their own laws, court systems, and bar associations. In the U.S., federal law and court decisions generally take precedence over these state laws and decisions. Powers not granted to the federal government are instead specifically reserved to the states in the U.S. Constitution.

ii. Court systems - Court systems in both countries are quite similar. Minor criminal offenses and small civil disputes are handled by special magistrate courts tasked with resolving such disputes. In the U.S., these are cases for state courts almost exclusively.

More serious crimes and civil cases in both countries are then subject to a three-court hierarchy. In the U.S., at the federal level, criminal cases and civil cases are not heard by separate courts (at the state level, however, many states do have separate court systems for these two types of cases). Cases begin in lower courts (Crown Court in the U.K., District Court in the U.S.), then move on to Courts of Appeals, and are finally resolved in a single Supreme Court, if necessary.

It is important to note that the U.S. does not have a “Tribunal System” as the U.K. does for certain disputes. There are, however, niche courts for certain types of cases (e.g. bankruptcy court is a separate type of federal court). In the U.S., parties may also agree to submit to binding arbitration or mediation as a means of alternative dispute resolution in certain cases. This often provides a less costly, more streamlined, and less adversarial way to conclude conflicts.

iii. Sources of legal authority - Much like courts in the U.K., courts in the U.S. rely mainly on past judicial opinions as authoritative precedent when resolving litigation. In the U.S., these are often referred to as “opinions” or simply “cases,” while the phrase “law report” has become somewhat archaic.

iv. Roles of lawyers - Aside from differences in nomenclature, the roles of lawyers in both countries are quite similar. The terms “barrister” and “solicitor” are not commonly used in the U.S., and litigators and non-litigators are not separately licensed. Instead, once an attorney is admitted to the bar in a particular state, he or she may generally practice any kind of law. For the sake of clarity: court-going barristers are known as “litigators” in the U.S., and solicitors are called “corporate” or “transactional” attorneys, or are referred to in accordance with their area of specialization (e.g., a health care attorney, a real estate attorney, a family law practitioner, etc.).