Bhubaneswar: Justice Surya Kant of Supreme Court on Saturday inaugurated five newly established Regional Judicial Academies in Odisha.
Inaugurating the Regional Judicial Academies at Angul, Balasore, Sambalpur, Berhampur in Ganjam district and Jeypore in Koraput, Justice Surya Kant said the Academies would be an example for the rest of the country. He highlighted the role of district judiciary in delivery of justice to the common people and hoped that the Regional Judicial Academies will help in functioning of the district judiciary.
He lauded the establishment of virtual courts in the districts by the High Court of Orissa and called it a landmark
step in ensuring access to justice. Stressing the mediation as an effective tool in alternative dispute redressal system, he advised for training the judicial officers in the Regional Judicial Academies on the mediation exercises and the legal aid activities.
Chief Justice S Muralidhar of Orissa High Court said the Regional Academies were the result of coordinated and concerted efforts of the Judges of the High Court and the District Judges and thanked the state government for the support.
“The five places were carefully chosen after taking their geographical locations into consideration so as to form clusters for the benefit of the nearby districts. Many ICT initiatives have been rolled out by the High Court in last two years and many such initiatives are on card which can be implemented effectively only if the judicial officers, court staff, lawyers and their clerks are provided hands-on training on use of these technologies,” he said.
Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi of the High Court and Chairman of Judicial Academy & Training Committee spoke on the factors leading to establishment of the Regional Judicial Academies. In the last five years alone, about 300 training programmes have been conducted in the Odisha Judicial Academy and expressed hope that Regional Academies will prove to be immensely beneficial for the judicial officers, court staff, lawyers and their clerks as well as the other stakeholders across the state, he said.
Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy, Judge, High Court of Orissa proposed the vote of thanks.
While some of the Judges physically attended the function in the Odisha Judicial Academy, the other Judges were present in the five Regional Judicial Academies and attended the function in virtual mode.
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