The International community consists of a community of sovereign states at an international platform. For any state to enjoy the duties, rights, and obligations of international law, recognition of the entity as a state internationally is very important. Also, only after the recognition of any entity as a state, it is acknowledged by other states, who are already a member of the International Community. This act of recognition is an independent act of the existing statehood community. Recognition of State under International Law can be defined as “ formal acceptance of a new State as an international entity by the existing State of the International Community”. It is given to political entities that have characteristics of statehood. Essentials of State Essentials for recognition as a state are mentioned in Article 1 of the Montevideo (Uruguay) Conference, 1933. It defines the state as a person and mentions the following criteria that an entity should possess in order to acqu...

A spate of recent attacks on and impropriety towards the individuals, who are performing their duties with all their dedication and by imperiling their lives has brought the National Security Act (NSA)   again at the center of attention. Some of the state governments have slapped the stringent provisions of the NSA against such miscreants to curb any further alike incidents. Invoking NSA in the current situation can be called a pressing need but it is not the case always. Every coin has two sides, similarly, the NSA remains in the news for both good as well as bad reasons. Let's see how. What actually the National Security Act is? National Security Act is an act of the Indian parliament enacted on 23rd September 1980 during the Indira Gandhi government with a view to providing for preventive detention in certain matters   prejudicial to national security and also for the sorry state of affairs where India faces various security threats like terrorism, ...

In the last few months, there have been sedition highlights against a range of people across India to that extent where it won't be wrong to say that India has become sedative enough to misuse it. Unquestionably, dissent, criticism of the government, questioning politicians-all of which are fundamental and essential to a democracy, have come to be treated as sedition by police and a section of the magistracy in the prevalent political order. Such terrorizing critics and protesters endanger the very idea of democracy. The British brought in this law to crush the freedom struggle and terrorize those who might "wage war" against the government. Under section 124A, sedition is a non-bailable offense, punishable with jail from three years to a life term. Sedition is when "any person by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffecti...

The author of this article, Divya Gautam, brings out the tussle between the reformative and retributive approach in the development of the Juvenile Justice System of India. Introduction In the exposed modern era of 21st century, where access to anything is just a click away, in the time when youth is much aware of their rights and duties and much sensitive to what is right and what is not, the fact that maturity does not come with age cannot be neglected and especially in the time of uproar over the acquittal of child delinquents in cases likes of Nirbhaya case, Shakti mill gang rape case, Hatigaon Rape Case, and the Mercedes Hit and Run Case (2016), where the offenders fell short just a year or six months or mere one month of the legal major age and thus, airing the outcry that age cannot be the sole criteria in deciding the treatment to be given to the child, rather, other factors of more relevance should be taken care of. Dilemmatic Situation in seeking Justice It is ne...

Recently, CJI SA Bobde at an International Judicial Conference emphasized the importance of Fundamental duties by saying that if each citizen fulfills his fundamental duties, all the rights can be taken care of . On more than one occasion PM Modi has drawn attention to this fundamental duties chapter inscribed in Article 51(a) of the Indian constitution. No matter how well-intentioned these people are when they remind us of our duties, implicit here's a pernicious idea. The idea that puts duties on a par with rights, suggesting that you shouldn't deserve your rights if you don't care for duties. Rights vs Duties: The problem with the state conflating rights and duties is that it might render the rights of the citizens as a quid pro quo for duties to be followed. It is not that we are completely indifferent to the concept of duties. For the smooth and peaceful functioning of our social life, we owe, often unknowingly, a wide range of legal duties to the state. The ...