Failure of judiciary will result in collapse of rule of law: Chief Justice of Singapore

A breakdown of trust in courts will be failure of judiciary and result in collapse of rule of law, Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon said here Saturday.

Speaking on " Role of Judiciary in a Changing World" at an event held to commemorate 73rd anniversary of Supreme Court of India, Justice Menon said courts should aim to become institutions that excel in ministration of justice.

"When it functions well, judiciary serves as part of glue that holds various moving parts toger....If this trust falls away, n courts are left to operate solely by force of state power, and belief in and respect for rule of law in our societies will collapse," he said.

event was attended by several dignitaries, including Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, senior serving and former judges of Supreme Court and high courts and senior government functionaries.

Justice Menon, who proposed a vision for a future-rey judiciary, said judiciary cannot solely rely on tritional ways to dress problem of "complexification" of disputes and will have to come up with rical ways to overcome it.

He said judges will increasingly need to be sensitive to developments in foreign laws to properly decide disputes. y will also need to actively cooperate with foreign counterparts for effective cross-border concurrent management, Justice Menon ded.

"It cannot rely solely on tritional case management tools to dress problem of complexification of disputes. Judiciary will have to come up with new and rical ways to downsize disputes or face a real crisis of capacity.

"If judiciary fails, it will le to a breakdown of rule of law. But if judiciary is successful in dealing with perfect long storm looming over us, y will help guide ir societies through tempest," he said.

CJI Chandrachud also spoke on occasion. He said history of Supreme Court is history of daily life struggles of Indian people.

"For court, re are no big or small cases, every matter is important. Because it is in seemingly small and routine matters involving grievances of citizens that issues of constitutional and jurisprudential importance emerge. In attending to such grievances, court performs a plain constitutional duty, obligation, and function," he said.

Observing that Supreme Court of India is busiest in world, CJ of Singapore said judges in India are among hardest working judges because of immense caselo y carry.

He said unequal accumulation of wealth will pose grave challenges with respect to access to justice for those left behind, who would feel increasingly marginalised and disillusioned with justice system.

Increasing cost and complexity also hamper access to justice, he ded.

Justice Menon said when judiciary functions well, it acts as a glue to hold different parts of system toger.

Chief Justice of Singapore said judges should also pay attention to vast potential of technology.

Justice S K Kaul delivered welcome dress on occasion and said top court acts as an apex arbitrator of disputes.

Justice K M Joseph gave vote of thanks.