Indian Journal of Law and Justice, Vol. 11, No. 01 (Part-03)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/4000

EDITORIAL

For decades now legal fraternity has been preoccupied with attempts to explain the relationship between legal and social change in the context of development and society. They viewed the law both as an independent and dependent and variable (cause and effect) in society and emphasized the interdependence of the law with other social systems. In its most concrete sense, social transformation means the change the society envisages in keeping with the demands of social, economic, political and historical factors. Social change brings about a change in the thought process of the people living in the society. Social change also has an impact upon the governance of a country. Such changes impact upon the rights of the people and also subaltern thoughts.

Law is the reflection of the will and wish of the society. It is responsible for the social transformations. The relationship between law and society works in a circular motion. On one hand the law changes the society and compels the society to be changed according to it. And on the other hand society changes the law as per its demands and needs. Legislated law, judicial interpretations, and custom and usages having the force of law play an important role in bringing about social change. When law changes the society it is the sign of beginning of the development of the society. When society changes law it is the sign of maturity of the society. The Shahabano case, Vishakha case, transgender case, the Nirbhaya case, Shabarimala case, Triple Talaque case environmental cases were some of the areas where the commonest of the common man was able to raise a voice and say how the law must be, what must be the punishment etc. The change required in the society can be initiated by a single person also and this has been proved in India right from Raja Ram Mohan Roy; Eishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Dayanand Saraswati to Mahatma Phule, Mahatma Baseswar, and Mahatma Gandhi up to Mother.

Teresa, Baba Amte, Anna Hazare! Thus the demand takes root and compels the government to either reform the existing laws or make new or even delete the existing unworthy laws.

Education too is a very important instrument of social change. Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. As a result of rapid industrialization, growing urbanization and changes in the human intellect society needs to change in order to cope with the gradual changes. Education can initiate social change by bringing about changes in the outlook and attitude of people. Present education system is totally mechanized and homogenising which curbs the individual thinking and self-learning.

Education is the root cause of social and cultural changes that takes place within the society. Education has been and is being played as an agent of socialization of the youth so as to reach the expectations of the society. Technology is another instrument of social change and development. With the introduction of technology in all walks of life, minimal knowledge of technology is the need of the hour.

Keeping the current developments and the emerging trends in mind, the Department of Law, University of North Bengal, had organised the National Law.

Conclave on the theme “Law as an Instrument of Social Change: Issues, Challenges and Emerging Trends” in November 2019.This special issue of the Indian Journal of Law and Justice is an anthology of the selected papers presented in the Conclave which intends obtain the bird’s eye view of the changes that have occurred and to ascertain how the jurists interpret the phenomenon of change.

Prof. (Dr.) Gangotri Chakraborty
Chief Editor

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    Biodiversity Laws as a Means to Protect Traditional Knowledge: Issues, Challenges and Success Stories
    (University of North Bengal, 2020-03) Singh, Sonal
    India is a country rich in biodiversity. The associated traditional knowledge has been an important part of Indian culture and society. Being a diversity rich spot, India has been victim of bio-piracy several times, though it has learnt its lessons from haldi, neem and basmati incidents. While it is important for countries to conserve its biodiversity and associated indigenous knowledge, it is also important to protect rights of those who add value to it and make its use more extensive through the tools of intellectual property rights. This results in conflict between biodiversity conservation and intellectual property rights. Biodiversity conservation conventions and statutes seek to achieve a balance between the rights of both. In India, the Biodiversity Act, 2002 provides for requirement of prior informed consent of the indigenous communities before accessing and using the concerned bio-resource. It also provides legal framework to ensure benefit sharing in various forms in case any intellectual property is obtained on the bioresource or the relevant traditional knowledge. However, effective implementation of the same remains a challenge. This ultimately deprives the actual holders of the concerned traditional knowledge who have either nurtured the bio-resources for years. This paper discusses the framework of biodiversity conservation laws as a means to protect rights of traditional knowledge holders in the international and Indian context. It highlights instances where legal framework has been successful in protecting rights of traditional knowledge holders. It also discusses various issues and challenges in protection of traditional knowledge in India.
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    Social Transformation and Its Impact on Traditional Knowledge
    (University of North Bengal, 2020-03) Wangchuk Bhutia, Jigmee
    As the society, so the Traditional Knowledge. with the change in society there is a change in Traditional Knowledge. Traditional Knowledge is shaped in accordance with the time and need of the society. There is a close relation between Traditional Knowledge and Social Transformation. With the society evolving towards modernization, Traditional Knowledge being a living knowledge which evolves with the society and the people is also evolving towards modern knowledge. The nature can be regarded as a laboratory where the experiment of the Traditional Knowledge takes place. Earlier, Traditional Knowledge was not universal at all, there was traditional system of protection and traditional system for the grant of permission to access it but now due to globalization, there is more chances of misappropriation and Traditional Knowledge is not safe. India is amongst the nations who is very rich in terms of Traditional Knowledge and in India, most of the population still depends on Traditional medicinal system. With the acceptance of globalization, it is high time India should take proper step for the protection of Traditional Knowledge. Traditional Knowledge is categorized under the Intellectual Property Rights, and if it is not provided proper protection then someone else under the Intellectual Property Rights will protect it and the community who owns it will loss the ownership rights.