3.3.1: Criminal Justice System and Forest Dwellers
Channel: Nagrik Learning
Date: 11/04/2023

In this lecture we are going to learn the connections between criminal law and the Forest Rights Act. Through this lecture, we will explore various principles of criminal justice system and whether these principles of criminal justice system come to the rescue of Adivasis and forest dwellers when they are accused of offences under forest and wildlife protection laws. 

The lecture is part of a course ‘Critical Learnings on Forest and Adivasi Rights’, which is designed to create simplified knowledge material on forest rights and related laws for lawyers, social workers and activists who are representing the Adivasi and forest dwelling community in courts or are working with them for the realisation of their rights under the Constitution of India, the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA). This course will also be useful for students of law and social sciences who are interested in Adivasi movements for self-rule and forest related issues. They will also learn how the FRA intersects with other laws relating to forest governance, forest and wildlife conservation, mining laws, compensatory afforestation laws, environmental laws, and laws relating to food security and the right to information. 

The Course is divided into three modules, and this lecture is part of Module III: Exploring the convergences of FRA with other legislations.  

Read Supplementary material for this lecture and a brief Q&A at www.nagriklearning.com.

The course ‘Critical Learnings on Forest and Adivasi Rights’ is a collaboration between Legal Resource Centre, Delhi, Nagrik Open Civic Learning (www.nagriklearning.com) and Vasundhara, Odisha (www.vasundharaodisha.org).

Suggested citation: Lecture 3.3.1: Criminal Justice System and Forest Dwellers, Critical Learnings on Forest and Adivasi Rights, Legal Resource Centre, Delhi, Nagrik Open Civic Learning and Vasundhara, Odisha (2023).