Amicus curiae is a legal Latin phrase, literally translates as
friend of
court. It is a legal tem and the definition is -"an impartial advisor, often
voluntary, to a court of law in a particular case.
Amicus curiae is one who helps the court by outfitting information or advice
with respect to inquiries of law or certainty. That refers to someone, not a
party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some
other aspects of the case to assist the court in deciding or in giving any
judgment in a matter before it. The person to act as amicus curiae are people
who represent the unbiased will and opinion of our society.
The role of an amicus curiae is, as stated by Salmon LJ - "
I had always
understood that the role of an amicus curiae was to help the court by expounding
the law impartially, or if one of the parties were unrepresented, by advancing
the legal arguments on his behalf."
The history of amicus curiae was originated in Roman Law. Then English Law
adapted it from that point it fanned out to common law frameworks the world
over. In later years, the historical backdrop of amicus curiae has brought it
around to international law, explicitly with respect to human rights cases.
From that point, this idea proceeded onward to civil legalcases, however it is
still generally pervasive in human rights law.
The principle directs the proper role of a friend of the court is that the
person should serve the court without likewise going about as
companion
to both of the parties. The person is usually, but not necessarily, or is
usually not paid for his/her expertise and opinions. The advantage that friends
of the court are allowed to express their perspectived or views for a case is
only that: amici curiae reserve no option to show up or to record briefs.
The most common area of need of amicus curiae is in cases that are under appeal,
or issue of public interest litigation.
In India, the courts have over and over invited allowing amicus curiae to
connect themselves with procedures, by and large including public interest.
Thusly, the court is guided not just by the scholastic point of view needed for
the specific case, yet additionally empowers the court to have an agreement
which would permit them to do equity completely.
Some examples of amicus curiae are as follows- Prashant Bhushan case in which
Supreme Court asks AG Venugopala to be amicus curiae, the senior advocate and
former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian amicus curiae in the shree
Padmanabhaswamy temple case, Supreme Court asked Salman khurshid to be amicus
curiae in Triple Talaq case, Arvind Nigam as an amicus curiae in the BMW hit and
run case etc.
The significance of amicus curiae can be all around seen thinking about current
realities of the above mentioned case, wherein both the prosecution and the
protection have gone beyond ethical and expert practices to kill justice.
Regardless of whether taking part by leave or by invitation, in an appearance or
with a brief amicus curiae, a friend the court is an asset individual who has
limited ability to act.
Endnotes:
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_curiae&ved=2ahUKEwj9h9zm-5nwAhU5ILcAHf0QBhgQmhMwD3oECAQQAg&usg=AOvVaw0-hyY_i0DADFriITuD1Jo4&cshid=16193753670727
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