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Indira Jaising's Books
Men's Laws, Women's Lives: A Constitutional Perspective on Religion, Common Law and Culture in South Asia
For about half a century now, South Asia has enjoyed independence and constitutional rule, but many countries have inherited a plural legal system as a legacy of colonialism. In all five countries of the region constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination are confounded by discriminatory personal laws that institutionalise gender inequality. Contributors to this volume address this problem from the perspective of countries that are statedly democratic and secular, as well as those that are theocratic, and from the experience of maintaining plural legal systems. Specifically, the questions they pose are: has the adoption of secular constitutions in these countries, with guaranteed human rights, made any difference to the legal status of women? What impact, if any, does the adoption of a secular constitution have on the regime of personal laws? Has the transition from colonialism to constitutionalism in the era of human rights made any difference to the rights of women? Has the adoption of constitutions that recognise equal rights made any difference to the institutionalised private/public divide?
Handbook On Law Of Domestic Violence
The Handbook on Law of Domestic Violence is an attempt to provide a tool towards uniform and proactive implementation of the Act to ensure that the promise and goal of promoting and fulfilling women's human rights is upheld. The Handbook will not only act as a comprehensive guide with regard to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA) and collate the best practices that have emerged from domestic and international experiences, but it will provide an overview of the entire gamut of laws, procedures and the jurisprudence that impact on a case of domestic violence. The idea is to provide a one stop tool, which can be used for reference by members of the judiciary in any context, in dealing with a case of domestic violence. Although the Handbook is intended primarily for members of the judiciary, it is also an important reference guide for legal academicians, lawyers and relevant authorities. The practice of evolving Handbook and guidelines to assist the courts and implementing authorities in dealing with cases of domestic violence is well developed internationally.
Conflict in the Shared Household: Domestic Violence and the Law in India
Lawyers collective, women’s rights initiative, prepared a craft law—the protection of women from domestic violence Act (pwdva)—in consultation with women’s groups from across the country to ensure emergency relief to women facing domestic violence. This law was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2005 and was brought in force by the government on 26 October 2006. Conflict in the shared household takes stock of the progress made towards achieving the objectives of the pwdva during the first decade of its implementation. It examines the nature of structural inequality that perpetuates and condones domestic violence as a lesser ‘wrong’ and traces the history of the fight against domestic violence in India, focusing on legislative developments and themes relating to state accountability in terms of providing a supportive framework.
Bhopal - The Inside Story
On the night of December 2, 1984, forty tons of deadly methyl isocyanate leaked out of a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, killing thousands and injuring many more. Bhopal: The Inside Story is the story of that tragedy through the eyes of eye-witness reports and personal testimonies of what really went on inside. T.R. Chouhan, a former worker in the plant, tells for the first time what it was like to work in the factory that was destined to go down in history as the site of the world's worst industrial accident and recounts in detail how the disaster occurred. In addition, personal testimonies and other eyewitness accounts from fifteen other workers disclose horrendous situations and practices in the factory, demolishing the carefully nurtured myth that multinationals like Union Carbide always bring "world-class" technology wherever they set up shop
Elusive Equality: Constitutional Guarantees and Legal Regimes in South Asia, Malaysia and China
This volume focuses on conceptions of equality and looks at how different constitutional systems - plural, secular, theocratic or socialist -- approach the issue of equality in different spheres of activity. The question it raises is: what does the right to equality mean for women under these differing constitutional provisions? At one end of the spectrum lies theocratic Malaysia which has a hybrid constitution, neither Islamic nor secular; at the other end is China with its secular socialist constitution which recognizes neither religion nor custom in its legal regime. India, simultaneously secular but recognizing personal laws, falls in the middle, while Nepal presents a fascinating example of a country transiting from Hindu monarchy to democracy, and framing a constitution that recognizes equality as a fundamental right.
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