Committee on Criminal Law Reform

• The committee has been constituted under Ranbir Singh and several other members.
• The committee would be gathering opinions online by consulting with experts and collating material for their report to the government.
• The consultation exercise would start on 4th July 2020 and go on for the next three months.

Background of Criminal Justice System:

• The codification of criminal laws in India was done during the British rule, which more or less remains the same even in the 21st century.
• Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay is said to be the chief architect of codifications of criminal laws in India.
• Criminal law in India is governed by Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and Indian Evidence Act, 1872, etc.

Need for Reforms:

• Colonial Era Laws: The criminal justice system is a replica of the British colonial jurisprudence, which was designed with the purpose of ruling the nation and not serving the citizens.
• Ineffectiveness: The purpose of the criminal justice system was to protect the rights of the innocents and punish the guilty, but nowadays the system has become a tool of harassment of common people.
• Pendency of Cases: According to Economic Survey 2018-19, there are about 3.5 crore cases pending in the judicial system, especially in district and subordinate courts, which leads to actualisation of the maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
• Huge Undertrials: India has one of the world’s largest number of undertrial prisoners.
• According to NCRB -Prison Statistics India (2015), 67.2% of our total prison population comprises undertrial prisoners.
• Investigation: Corruption, huge workload and accountability of police is a major hurdle in speedy and transparent delivery of justice.
• Madhav Menon Committee: It submitted its report in 2007, suggesting various recommendations on reforms in the CJSI.
• Malimath Committee Report: It submitted its report in 2003 on the Criminal Justice System of India (CJSI).
  • The Committee had opined that the existing system “weighed in favour of the accused and did not adequately focus on justice to the victims of crime.”
  • It has provided various recommendations to be made in the CJSI, which were not implemented.

Way Forward

• India needs to draft a clear policy that should inform the changes to be envisaged in the existing criminal laws.
• It also needs to make simultaneous improvements in the police, prosecution, judiciary and in prisons.
• The focus of reform should be on reformative justice in order to bring all around peace in the society.

New national security law for Hong Kong

GS-PAPER-2 IR China

China has unveiled a new national security law for Hong Kong. The new law was passed by the Chinese parliament unanimously. It was subsequently made a part of Hong Kong’s Basic Law. The law will greatly expand Beijing’s power in Hong Kong.

New law target protesters?

The new law has widely defined some offences which punishes the protestors with harsh punishments. The offences include Secession, Subversion, Terrorist Activities, and Collusion with a Foreign Country or with External Elements to Endanger National Security.

All four offences can invite life imprisonment as the maximum punishment, followed by lesser penalties. The law allows the prosecution of persons who are not residents of Hong Kong for committing an offence under the law outside the city. This allows the prosecution of foreigners who involve in city politics.

What are the changes made?

Mainland China will establish a new department in Hong Kong called the ‘Office for Safeguarding National Security. With Beijing’s approval, the Office would be able to take over jurisdiction from Hong Kong’s law courts,

• • If a case is complex due to the involvement of a foreign country or external elements,
  • If a serious situation makes the local application of the security law difficult, or due to the occurrence of a major and imminent threat to national security.

In cases that are taken over by the Office, prosecutors, as well as adjudicators, will be appointed by mainland China. For these cases, Chinese procedural laws would apply. Under the new law, the power of interpretation of criminal statutes has been vested in the Standing Committee of the Chinese parliament.

If a trial involves “State secrets” or “public order”,

• • It could be closed to the media and the public;
  • Only the judgment would be delivered in open court.

What are the changes made to the Police Force?

• The Hong Kong Police Force will have a separate department to deal with national security matters.
• The city’s Justice Department will have to form a specialised prosecution division. The police will have sweeping powers to investigate certain offences.
• Upon the Chief Executive’s approval, the police will have the power to investigate or tap phones.
• These powers have traditionally required prior court approval.

New Committee formed:

• A new body called the ‘Committee for Safeguarding National Security’ will be formed with Hong Kong’s Chief Executive at its helm. The Committee will be immune from judicial scrutiny.
• It will have a Beijing-appointed national security adviser. It will be responsible for formulating national security policies among other tasks.

How is Hong Kong governed?

• A former British colony, Hong Kong was handed over to mainland China in 1997, becoming one of its Special Administrative Regions.
• It is governed by a mini-constitution called the Basic Law. The Basic Law affirms the principle of “one country, two systems”.
• It upholds liberal policies, a system of governance, an independent judiciary, and individual freedoms of Hong Kong for 50 years from 1997.

Why this security law was enacted by China, not Hong Kong?

• Under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong was supposed to enact the national security law on its own. However, when the city government tried to enact the law in 2003, the issue became a rallying point for massive protests.
• Ever since the government steered clear of introducing the law again. The other way of implementing the law was by its inclusion in Annex III of the Basic Law.
• Annex III is a list of legislations confined to those relating to defence and foreign affairs, and other matters outside the limits of the Region’s autonomy.
• Adding law to this list causes it to be enforced in the city by way of promulgation - meaning automatically being put into effect. Beijing chose this route.

World Investment Report

GS-Paper-2 International organisation (PT-MAINS)

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its World Investment Report.

It projected that the Foreign direct investment (FDI) to the developing Asian economies could drop by as much as 45%. FDI is falling and the immediate picture for many countries is not looking pretty. One sector that is expected to buck this trend is digital services.

Why digital services?

• Digital services have become critical to every 21st century economy. They are filling gaps when national or global emergencies interrupt more traditional modes of commerce.
• They enable access to and delivery of a wide array of products across multiple sectors.

• Even in the midst of the pandemic, investments in digital services continue to flow at record levels globally.

What determines the flow of FDI?

• India is an ideal destination for increased FDI flows in the digital services sector.
• India offers undeniable potential for innovative homegrown start-ups because of its huge and increasingly digitised population.
• However, Indian government policies will be key determinants in how quickly the Indian economy attracts new investment. They will also determine how India can foster Indian innovation, and expands its exporting prowess.

Measures:

• There are three pending reform measures under consideration that may affect India’s growth trajectory in digital services for years to come. They are the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDPB), the e-commerce policy, and the Information Technology Act Amendments.
• Approaches in these reforms emphasise a focus on protecting the domestic market for domestic companies and prioritising government access to data. It may be difficult to reconcile these approaches in India.
• There is uncertainty about when these changes will be completed and implemented. The course of the India-U.S. trade relationship is uncertain, as signs of progress are continually interrupted new restrictions.

The bilateral relationship is an important factor in realising the potential for greater trade and investment in digital services. India and the U.S. are yet to conclude negotiation on a bilateral trade agreement that could address some digital services issues. The US initiated a Section 301 review of whether digital services taxes in 10 countries constitute unfair trade measures, including India’s equalisation levy.

Way forward:

• India resumes its efforts to put into place a new architecture for digital services and pursues opportunities to attract new investment.
• Therefore, the government and stakeholders might consider the full range of implications for the long-term. India will be the host of the G20 nations in 2022.
• It is clear that post-COVID-19 international cooperation and approaches to good governance in the digital sphere will be top-priority initiatives. The steps India takes now could well establish itself as a true global leader.

World Population 2020 Report

GS-Paper-2 I.O Population report

It was developed during the initial stages of the pandemic by UNFPA. The report examines the issue of missing women by studying sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex selection as well as excess female mortality due to deliberate neglect of girls because of a culture of son preference.

Titled ‘Against my will: defying the practices that harm women and girls and undermine equality’.

It highlights at least 19 human rights violations against women and focuses on the three most prevalent ones, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), extreme bias against daughters, in favour of sons and child marriage.

According to the report

• One in 9 females below the age of 5 die due to postnatal sex selection
• One in 3 girls missing globally due to sex selection, both pre- and post-natal, is from India (46 million out of the total 142 million).

However, the advent of technology and increased access to ultrasound imaging ensured that parents didn’t have to wait for the birth of their girl child to kill her but could terminate a fetus upon knowing its gender. This resulted in the number of girls missing due to female feticide exceeding those that were missing because of postnatal sex selection.

DATA

Global Data:

The number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years, who were at 61 million in 1970.

Missing females/women: These are women missing from the population at given dates due to the cumulative effect of postnatal and prenatal sex selection in the past. The phrase was coined by Amartya Sen.

In Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan excess female mortality of girls below 5 years of age was under 3%.

Excess female mortality:

It is the difference between observed and expected mortality of the girl child or avoidable death of girls during childhood. According to estimates averaged over a five year period (2013-17), annually, there were 1.2 million missing female births, at a global level.

India Specific Data:

One in three girls missing globally due to sex selection, both pre- and post-natal, are from India, i.e. 46 million out of the total 142 million.

India has the highest rate of excess female deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 female births or one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 due to postnatal sex selection.

In India, around 460,000 girls went missing at birth, which means they were not born due to sex-selection biases, each year between 2013 and 2017.

India (40%) along with China (50%) account for around 90% of the estimated 1.2 million girls lost annually to female foeticide.

Female Genital Mutilation: It involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

The practise has no health benefits for girls and women and can cause severe bleeding, problems in urinating, cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.

An estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation in 2020.

Extreme Bias against Daughters, in favour of sons: An extreme and continuing preference for sons over daughters in some countries has fuelled gender-biased sex selection or extreme neglect which leads to girls’ death as children, resulting in missing females.

The report examines the issue of missing women by studying sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex selection as well as excess female mortality.

The advent of technology and increased access to ultrasound imaging allow parents to terminate a foetus after knowing its gender.

Due to this, the number of girls missing due to female foeticide exceed those that are missing because of postnatal sex selection.

These skewed numbers change the population proportions and result in ‘marriage squeeze’.

Marriage squeeze: It happens when prospective grooms far outnumber prospective brides, which further results in human trafficking for marriage as well as child marriages.

These violations result in fewer choices for females and putting them under the sexual, economic and legal control of men, curbing their human rights.

Child Marriage: Every day, around 33,000 girls under age 18 are forced into marriage, usually to much older men. In India, child marriage is directly linked to poverty, poor education and geographic location and the rural and urban divide.

Covid-19 Induced Challenges:

The economic disruptions and income-loss because of the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to increase violence against girls and women due to intensified unwantedness of daughters and gender discrimination. The Covid-19 pandemic threatens to reverse the progress made in ending some harmful practices worldwide.

In India, Covid-19 has reduced access to contraception and abortion services, which is likely to lead to an increase in unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

Initiatives Appreciated:

The report pointed out that successful education-related interventions include the provision of cash transfers conditional on school attendance or support to cover the costs of school fees, books, uniforms and supplies. The report took note of the successful cash-transfer initiative such as ‘Apni Beti Apna Dhan’ in India.

United Nations Population Fund

• It is a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly and works as a sexual and reproductive health agency.
• It was established as a trust fund in 1967 and began operations in 1969.
• In 1987, it was officially renamed the United Nations Population Fund but the original abbreviation, ‘UNFPA’ for the United Nations Fund for Population Activities was retained.
• The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) establishes its mandate.
• UNFPA is not supported by the UN budget, instead, it is entirely supported by voluntary contributions of donor governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, foundations and individuals.
• UNFPA works directly to tackle Sustainable Development Goals on health (SDG3), education (SDG4) and gender equality (SDG5).

Way Forward

People must protect women and girls by enforcing laws against practices like child marriage and female mutilation and also by changing attitudes and norms. The problem should be tackled by eliminating the root causes, especially gender-biased norms.

People must foster respect for women and girls, by changing attitudes and practices that commoditize them. Governments must fulfil their obligations under human rights treaties that require the elimination of these practices and rituals.
Countries that have ratified international treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, have a duty to end the harm, whether it’s inflicted on girls by family members, religious communities, health-care providers, commercial enterprises or State institutions themselves.

USA-CHINA 5G Issue

GS-Paper-2 International issue (Mains)

The US Federal Communications Commission (US FCC) designated Chinese telecom vendors Huawei and ZTE as national security threats.

US banned Huawei and ZTE?

The first official action on these Chinese telecom equipment makers was taken based on House Intelligence Committee’s report (2012). The report said that both the companies posed a risk to national security.

It also said that US businesses should avoid buying equipment from them. On most occasions, the US had accused Huawei and ZTE of working in ways that were contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.

Why ban?

Huawei is the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment and the second largest maker of mobile phone parts. It has been at the forefront of innovation that allowed many companies to build large telecom infrastructure at very low costs.

ZTE has tied up with several big corporations to manufacture their patented equipment in China at very low costs. A ban on both Huawei and ZTE could mean an increase of up to 30% in the cost of telecom equipment across the board. Apart from hardware, Huawei has also been trying to make inroads into the software and operating systems (OS) industry.

How it impact India?

This decision could put pressure on India to take similar action. Equipment market - The low-cost equipment from Huawei or ZTE could provide some relief to domestic telcos.

Huawei was a major equipment supplier to companies like Vodafone Idea and Airtel during the initial rollout of the 4G services in India. Over the years, Huawei has made inroads into nearly 25% of the total telecom equipment market in India.

4G expansion - Now, the Department of Telecommunications said that it would rework the 4G network expansion tenders of BSNL and MTNL. This would bar global vendors like Huawei and ZTE from participating.

5G trials - In 2019, the telecom minister said that all players, including Huawei, were permitted to participate in 5G trials in India. To allay security fears, Huawei had said it was ready to sign a no backdoor agreement with the government. Under the agreement, Huawei would vouch that it did not gain access to any Indian customer’s equipment under any circumstance.

Barring Huawei and ZTE from even bidding in the 5G auctions could mean equipment as much as 30% costlier.

World Population Prospects

According to ‘The World Population Prospects 2019’ published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2027.

• Through the end of the century (between 2019 and 2050) India (with an estimated population of 1.37 billion) is expected to remain the world’s most populous country, followed by China, Nigeria, United States of America, and Pakistan.
• The global population is projected to increase by another 2 billion people by 2050.
• Aging of the world's population will also spike due to increasing life expectancy and falling fertility levels. By 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 (16%), up from one in 11 in 2019 (9%)
• Aging will result in a decline in the proportion of the working age population that in turn will exert pressure on social security systems. Europe and North America will have a much higher number of aging population.
• Many countries are experiencing a reduction in population size (between 2019 and 2050, many countries will experience populations shrink by at least 1%).
• populations shrink can be attributed to sustained low levels of fertility and, in some cases, high rates of emigration.
• In countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines out-migration plays a key in population change (outflow of migrant workers).
• In some instances, out-migration could also be caused by violence, lack of security or wars as in Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela.
• Many of the fastest growing populations are in the poorest countries, where population growth brings additional challenges in the effort to eradicate poverty, achieve greater equality, combat hunger and malnutrition and strengthen the coverage and quality of health and education systems to ensure that no one is left behind.