Question

Do you think the system of appeals makes the judicial system more just and reliable, but at the same time causes delays?

Answer 1

• Positive Impacts on Justice and Reliability:
  1. Rectifies Judicial Errors: It provides a mechanism for superior courts to review and correct any factual errors or legal mistakes made by lower courts.
  2. Guarantees Fair Trials: It gives aggrieved litigants an additional opportunity to seek relief if they believe the initial trial was biased or unfair.
  3. Establishes Uniform Precedents: It allows apex courts to interpret laws consistently, creating clear legal standards that all subordinate courts must follow.
  4. Prevents Miscarriage of Justice: It serves as a constitutional safeguard against arbitrary, excessive, or wrongful punishments given by lower judicial bodies.
• Negative Impacts Causing Delays:
  1. Prolongs the Litigation Process: A single dispute can take decades to resolve as it moves slowly through multiple layers of the judicial hierarchy.
  2. Worsens Judicial Backlogs: Higher courts get heavily overburdened with a continuous influx of appeals, increasing the overall case pendency.
  3. Creates Financial Strain: Wealthy individuals can drag out cases indefinitely through endless appeals, exhausting the financial capacity of poorer opponents.
  4. Postpones Final Relief: The execution of a lower court's judgment is often stayed or paused until the final appellate court delivers its verdict.