Indian Constitution is a "Lawyers' Paradise'. - Ivor Jennings. (UPSC CSE Mains 2018 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
British constitutional scholar Ivor Jennings called the Indian Constitution a “lawyer’s paradise” because of the complex language and phrases it has adopted. Jennings said that a constitution should be intelligible to common people, but they fail to clearly understand the Indian constitution which is very complex. Every article of this constitution can be interpreted by the higher judiciary, and lawyers, while interpreting, different articles, further complicate the constitution.
- Dominant presence of lawyers-The Constituent Assembly of India significantly comprised politicians who were also qualified lawyers. Dr Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Dr BR Ambedkar were all lawyers. They framed the Constitution in the company of other legal stalwarts, such as the legal luminary- B.N. Rau.
- Difficult language-The vocabulary appears dense and difficult for laymen to comprehend, unlike for lawyers who are trained in legalistic language. P. R. Deshmukh, a member of Constituent Assembly: “ to our misfortune we have been burdened (constitution) with so much of words, words and words which could have been very easily eliminated.”
- Excessive details: The Constitution does not merely comprise of a larger vision but also small administrative details which reflected the fear of leaders of a newly independent democracy.
It is true that the Constitution is a long and complex document. The long size and the complexity was the result of many contributory factors. But the fact that it is a long document and therefore it is prone to be a source of litigation is not correct. Indian constitution is praised as a living constitution and the cornerstone of our country by Granvilee Austin. It has given justice and a life of dignity to all the citizens. It also helped make India the largest democracy.
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