Bhadrapur, Jan. 22: Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya has said that the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council have given top priority to making provisions to impart specialised training to judges above the district level.

Chief Justice Upadhyaya gave this information while winding up the four-day training for district judges of the eastern development region hosted by the Judicial Council Secretariat at Kalbalgudi.

Stating that the area under the purview of the judiciary was expanding in the changed world scenario, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that as justice had to be dispensed in areas such as environment, gender equality, information technology, arbitration and contracts, judges need training in such matters.

Pointing out that in other countries training is given to every judge, Mr Upadhyaya said the process of establishing a Judicial Academy in the country is in the final stages and a search is on for donor agencies.

Making it clear that the Judicial Council and the Supreme Court transfer or promote judges on the basis of suitability, efficiency and evaluation, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that judges dedicated to the service of the people should be willing to serve anywhere in the country.

Winding up the training programme, Chief Justice Upadhyaya stated that every judge should abide by the code of conduct and follow the 13-point directive issued in December 1999.

Pointing out the need for commitment to abiding by the code of conduct, the Chief Justice also issued a nine-point directive concerning activities to be undertaken by the courts to resolve problems in the administering of justice on the basis of the information received at the Judicial Council and during inspection of the courts.

Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that the judges themselves should refrain from expressing views that create misunderstanding about the judiciary and from making baseless and unsubstantiated comments. Instead their conduct at work should be characterized by goodwill, tolerance, correctness and maturity.

Mr Upadhyaya said that all concerned should direct their thoughts and efforts towards making the activities of the judiciary quick, efficient, effective and of a certain standard and that problems concerning every issue should be sought from within the judiciary instead of commenting gratuitously on matters on internal dispute and hankering for perks and other facilities.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, district judge of Khotang Prakash Ram Mishra emphasised the need for the Judicial Council and the Supreme Court to host regular trainings and seminars on specialised fields.

Judicial Council and Supreme Court spokesman Kashi Raj Dahal proposed a vote of thanks at the function chaired by Chief Judge of the Appellate Court Rajendra Bhandari.

At the training programme, working papers were presented by Supreme Court Justice Kedar Prasad Upadhyaya on work load and procedural law, judge Gopal Prasad Chhetri on invoking court provisions no. 17 and 184 for taking quick decisions in court cases and judge Krishna Jung Rayamajhi on the scope, procedures and preservation of documents in court cases.

Likewise, Supreme Court judge Laxman Prasad Aryal presented a working paper concerning points to which attention had to be paid while issuing injunctions regarding custody, and chief judge of Ilam Court Rajendra Bhandari on writing the verdict and implementation of verdicts.

The training programme attended by 28 judges of the Eastern Development Region has already been held in Chitwan for judges of the Central Development Region, spokesman Dahal said.

The Judicial Council aims to take the suggestions received after conclusion of the training programme for district judges to the implementation level, council secretary Shyam Krishna Kasaju.