KIIT School of Law Organizes International Webinar on ‘Contemporary Challenges to Criminal Justice Administration and Resource Opportunities’
Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Administration (CCLCJA), KIIT School of Law (KSOL) organized an International Webinar on ‘Contemporary Challenges to Criminal Justice administration and Research Opportunities’ on 9th April 2021. Prof. Dr. Bernd-Dieter Meier of Hannover University, Germany graced the Webinar as the eminent speaker. He was joined by his research assistant Ms. Mira Behnson.
Prof. Dr. Bernd-Dieter Meier is the Director of the Criminal Justice Institute, University of Hannover, Germany and also the Chair for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law and Criminology.
In his talk, Professor Meir meticulously laid down the units through which he would delve into the major Contemporary challenges to Criminal Justice Administration and the research opportunities in connection therewith. The talk covered topic such as: (I) Adversarial vs. inquisitorial system of justice (II) Objectives of criminal justice and how to attain them (III) Restorative Justice and the position of the victim in it (iv) Efficiency of criminal justice administration & (v) Challenges to Criminal Justice administration during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The objective of a Criminal Justice system is to uncover the truth and impart justice, he remarked. Professor Meir shared experiences from his empirical study in the inquisitorial system and analyzed the basic difference with the adversarial system.
He emphasized that the countries have to adapt so that the operation of criminal justice is maintained during the pandemic. The speaker underscored the consequences of the pandemic for the prison and prisoners, where he also deliberated on the steps taken by India as well as Germany.
The high point and distinctiveness in the lecture was that after every unit, Professor Meir inspired the listeners by laying down the grey areas in the respective units which could be utilized by the researcher in their research work. The students’ enthusiasm in the lecture was reflected in the discussion and deliberation sessions after each and every unit with a catena of questions being addressed by the speaker .
The Webinar was coordinated by Dr. Paromita Chattoraj, Associate Professor, KIIT School of Law and Faculty Coordinator, CCLCJA under the guidance of Dr. Bhavani Prasad Panda, Director, KIIT School of Law. The webinar was successful with an active participation by the students, scholars, faculties.