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A Q&A guide to the legal system in India.

The Q&A gives a high level overview of the key legal concepts including the constitution, system of governance and the general legislative process; the main sources of law; the court structure and hierarchy; the judiciary and its appointment; the general rules of civil and criminal litigation, including reporting restrictions, evidentiary requirements, the roles of the judge and counsel, burdens of proof and penalties.

Constitution

The Constitution of India of 1950 is a written document which currently comprises over 450 Articles and 12 Schedules. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world.

The Constitution of India was drafted and adopted by a constituent assembly of elected representatives of the people and came into effect on 26 January 1950. The Constitution of India is not the creation of parliament but of the people of India and is therefore supreme. India's constitutional supremacy is evidenced in the opening sentence of the Preamble to the Constitution of India: "We, The People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic".

The Constitution of India is sometimes referred to as a cosmopolitan document because it derives several of its features from foreign sources, most notably:

• Parliamentary government, rule of law and bicameralism from the UK.
• Directive Principles of State Policy from Ireland.
• Fundamental rights, judicial independence and functions of the president from the US.
• Union list and state list from Canada.
• Concurrent list and freedom of trade from Australia.

Having features of both federal and unitary constitutions, the Constitution of India is neither purely federal nor purely unitary, and is widely considered as quasi-federal in nature.

India is a union of 28 states and eight union territories. India has a parliamentary system, with legislatures at both union and state levels.

The President is the constitutional head of the Union of India, commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces and head of the government. The "real" executive power is vested in the Prime Minister and the council of ministers (and the President must act on their "aid and advice"). A similar system is established at the state level. While the governors are the head of the states, the executive powers are exercised by the chief ministers (leader of the state government) and their council of ministers.

Structure

The Indian Constitution has adopted a bicameral legislature at the union level. The Indian Parliament comprises two Houses, the:

• Lok Sabha (House of the People). The political party or coalition of political parties with a majority in the Lok Sabha forms the government. The members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people from their territorial constituencies.