Month: May 2021

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Legal Researcher & Content Writer at India Law Offices LLP, New Delhi: Apply Now!

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About the job:

India Law Offices LLP: ILO, a full-service law firm, is headquartered in New Delhi and has its presence in Mumbai, Bangalore, & Chennai. Internationally ILO is well recognized being a part of three international networks with associates in 100+ countries. ILO has its branches at Dusseldorf & London.

Title: 

Legal Content Writer

Job Location: 

New Delhi

We are looking for a Law Graduate with very good English Language skills as well as strong research & expression to work on legal articles, legal & industry reports, research papers & client communications. The work would involve creating Legal articles, blogs, practice pages and promotional material for our website, newsletters & client communications.

We prefer law graduates from good universities with at least 1 year of experience in such work. However, if you have a flair for writing, research & expression then we will consider candidates without prior experience in legal writing as long as they have worked as a lawyer for sometime.

Responsibilities:

  1. Writing web-friendly original legal content (no run-on sentences, long paragraphs, or advanced vocabulary)
  2. Editing yours and others writing using grammatical knowledge and a variety of tools
  3. Researching topics on recent legal updates, various sectors & government schemes
  4. Creating engaging posts for our Social Media accounts

Technical Skills:

  1. Superior research and writing skills
  2. Strong copy editing and proofreading skills
  3. Demonstrated experience writing for the web
  4. Ability to turn copy around quickly and meet tight deadlines especially for weekly newsletters

Salary: 

As per industry standards.

Joining:

Immediate or within a short period

Application Procedure:

  • You may send us an e-mail with the subject line “Application for Legal Researcher & Content Writer” expressing your interest in the opportunity available, along with a copy of your latest resume.
  • Short-listed candidates shall be called for a personal interview

How to Apply?

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2532220599/?refId=SFYde%2FElTsq8m%2FtLFEjbTQ%3D%3D

Contact details:

Email: hr@indialawoffices.com

Phone: +91 11 24622248 & 24622249

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Call for Papers: International Journal of Cyber Laws, MNLU Mumbai: Submit by May 31, 2021

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Center for Information, Communication and Technology Law, MNLU Mumbai (CICTL) is calling for papers for publication in Volume I Issue 1 of the journal. The deadline for submission of manuscripts for the forthcoming issue is 31st May, 2021.

About the Journal

The Journal shall be a professionally peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal that operates bi-annually. IJCL shall publish twice per academic year (Winter/Spring Issue and Summer Issue). The Journal is an initiative of the Centre for Information, Communication and Technology Laws, MNLU Mumbai.

Guidelines:

  • Co-authorship: Co-authorship of up to three authors is permitted.
  • Plagiarism: The submission should reflect original and unpublished work, not under review with a similar platform.
  • A maximum similarity of 15% is allowed (subject to proper referencing). Non-adherence to this rule shall result in the rejection of the article summarily with no chance for improvement.
  • Length: Submissions must ideally be limited to the following word limits (exclusive of citations).
  • Abstract –The Submission must contain an abstract of a maximum of 500 words on its first page.
  • Word Limit: Submissions must ideally be limited to the following word limits. However, the author can exceed the limit in case of necessity subject to the discretion of the Reviewer concerned. This limit shall be exclusive of footnotes and abstract.
    • Short Articles – 3000 to 5000 words.
    • Long Articles – 6000 to 10000 words.
    • Book Reviews – 2000 to 3000 words.
    • Case Comments – 3000 to 5000 words.
    • Legislative Comments – 3000 to 6000 Words.
  • Formatting: Submissions should be made only in Microsoft Word (.docx) format. The submission should adhere to the following formatting style.
  • Heading 1 (1,2,3…): Times New Roman, Upper Case, Font size: 16, Line spacing: 1.5”, Justified.
  • Heading 2 (1.1., 1.2.,1.3.,…): Times New Roman, Sentence Case, Font size: 14, Line spacing: 1.5” , Justified.
  • Sub Heading (1.1.1.,…):   Times New Roman, Small Caps Case, Font size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5”. , Justified.
  • Sub-Sub Heading (optional) (a,b,c..)  – Times New Roman, Bold-Italics, Font size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5”, Justified.
  • Body: Times New Roman, Font size: 12, Line spacing: 1.5”
  • Footnote: Font size: 10, Line spacing: 1”, Justified.
  • Citation: Relevant sources such as judgments, laws, treaties, news article and other legal texts must be added as footnotes adhering to the uniform Bluebook 20th Edition citation style.

Review Process:

  • Every article undergoes a comprehensive three-tier peer review and is sent back with comments for improvement, suggested changes, or cogent reasons for rejection/selection.
  • Upon acceptance of the manuscript for publication by Journal, the copyright over the manuscript is vested with MNLU Mumbai. However, the moral rights over the manuscript shall vest in the author(s).

Publication fee:

There is no publication fee at any point.

Certification:

On successful publication of a blog article, the author(s) shall be provided with a certificate of publication from Centre for Information Communication, and Technology Law, MNLU Mumbai.

How to Submit?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhp6Dl7NsJkRPW9JESIKXi9un2SWSk0DAB8jIWmksnvlupyQ/viewform

The last date for the submission is 31st May 2021.

Contact Details:

Any queries can be addressed via mail at cictl@mnlumumbai.edu.in  (Kindly mention “Query – Journal) at the mail.

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3rd NLS-Trilegal International Arbitration Conference [May 16]: Register by May 15, 2021

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The Moot Court Society, NLSIU Bangalore in association with Trilegal is organising the III NLS-Trilegal International Arbitration Conference along with its flagship moot competition- NLS-Trilegal International Arbitration Moot on 16th May 2021. There is no registration fee for the conference and will be hosted on Zoom cloud meetings.

Sessions:

Session I:

Multi-Party and Multi-Contract Arbitrations- Issues and Challenges 

Time:

12:00-1:30 PM IST 

Panelists for Session I:

  • Mr. Salim Moollan QC (Barrister, Essex Court Chambers)
  • Mr. Promod Nair (Partner Arista Chambers; Council Member, HKIAC)
  • Ms. Shaneen Parikh (Partner, Head- International Arbitration Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas)

Moderator:

  • Anuradha Agnihotri (Partner, Dispute Resolution Trilegal)

Session II:

Contemporary Issues on Interim Reliefs in Arbitration 

Time:

2:30-4:00 PM IST 

Panelists for Session II:

  • Mr. David Brynmor Thomas QC (Barrister, 39 Essex Chambers)
  • Mr. Mysore Prasanna (Independent Consultant Arbitrator and Mediator)
  • Mr. Gaurav Pachnanda (Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Door Tenant, Fountain Court Chambers)
  • Ms. Shweta Bidhuri (South Asia Head, SIAC)

Moderator:

  • Ashish Bhan (Partner, Dispute Resolution Trilegal)

Last Date to Register:

15 May 2021

Registration Link: 

Session I: 

zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sslMnjH5QpOAMeeDk9YZcQ(opens in a new tab)

Session II: 

zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z8PJut-jQHqrIDk4bVf-ww(opens in a new tab)

Official Brochure:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cwvXefQ4OABdb6oaVfu4Ea9E1YeJwUzr/view?fbclid=IwAR3N3Dgxh1XY2egyT5NnS1q1FcLLG-UdujGo0ECNH4OYzFRlY-FmLrEtzjw

Contact Information:

Email: mcs@nls.ac.in

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The Specific Weapons Regime under International Humanitarian Law

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This article is written by Kalyani Gupta, a Master’s in Law student from Amity University, Noida. This article discusses the regime of specific weapons under the International humanitarian law

INTRODUCTION

International humanitarian law can be defined as a set of rules and regulations which seek out, for humanitarian purposes, to curb the impacts of armed conflict. It safeguards people who are not or are no longer contributing to the hostilities and constrains the means and approaches of warfare. International humanitarian law is also widely known as the “law of war or the law of armed conflict”. This law is a part of international law, that is the body of rules or regulations administering relations between States. International law is included in agreements between different States, treaties, or conventions, and in customary rules, which comprise of State practise deemed by them as legally binding, and in general principles.

International humanitarian law applies to armed conflicts. It does not control that if a State may essentially use force, this is governed by an essential, but different, part of international law which is set out in the United Nations Charter. International humanitarian law encompasses basic principles and regulations directing the selection of weapons and prohibits the employment of specific weapons. The International Committee for Red Cross performs a prominent role in the promotion and advancement of law regulating the use of specific weapons.

Humanitarian Law Limits the Way Weapons are Used

From the start, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has attempted to limit the distress and suffering caused by armed conflict. To accomplish this, International Humanitarian Law focuses on both the behaviour of combatants and the selection of methods of warfare, including weapons. Initial treaties barred the use of exploding projectiles which weighed less than ‘400 grams’ (in 1868) and certain bullets that flatten upon entering inside the human body (in 1899). 

  • In 1925, governments adopted the ‘Geneva Protocol’, which prohibits the use of poisonous gas and bacteriological means of warfare. This treaty was modernised with the adoption of the ‘Biological Weapons Convention in 1972’ and the ‘Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993’, both of these conventions reinforced the 1925 Protocol by spreading prohibitions to the development, manufacture, procurement, stockpiling, retaining and transfer of biological and chemical weapons, and necessitating their destruction. 
  • Several conventional weapons are controlled in the 1980 Convention on ‘Certain Conventional Weapons’. This Convention restricts the use of munitions that use pieces which are not visible or detectable by X-ray and blinding laser weapons. It also curbs the use of inflammatory weapons as well as mines, booby traps and “other devices”. The Convention is also the very first treaty to create a framework to focus on the post-conflict risks of undischarged and abandoned ordnance. 
  • Anti-personnel landmines are forbidden under the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, 1997”. Almost more than three quarters of the entire world’s countries have entered this Convention, which had a very positive impact in terms of destruction of stockpiles, mine clearance, reduction of casualties and assistance to victims.
  • On 30 May 2008, “Convention on Cluster Munitions” was adopted by 107 States. The obligations of this treaty become legally binding on 30 consenting States on 1 August 2010 and consequently for other ratifying States. By adopting and implementing this Convention, States have undertaken a big and a major step towards ending the death, injury and suffering caused by these weapons.
  • The unfettered widespread accessibility of arms adds to breaches of international humanitarian law and hinders the distribution of support to victims. Since 2006, States have been debating on the global “Arms Trade Treaty” (ATT). In January 2010, the United Nations General Assembly chose to assemble the 2012 United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty to intricate a legally binding tool on the highest possible international standards for the allocation and transfer of conventional arms. The International Committee for Red Cross supports the explanation of a thorough, legally binding Arms Trade Treaty that creates a common international standard for the conscientious transfer and brokering of all standard weapons and their ammunition.

The damaging power of the nuclear weapons has put them in a classification of their own, yet there is no complete or universal prohibition on their usage under international law. Nonetheless, in July 1996 the International Court of Justice which is known as ICJ determined that their use would usually be opposite to the principles and rules of International Humanitarian Law. The International Committee for Red Cross thinks that it is difficult to foresee how the use of nuclear weapons can be compatible with the regulations of International Humanitarian Law. In viewpoint of the distinctive characteristics of nuclear weapons, the International Committee for Red Cross has further called out on all States to make sure that such weapons are not used again, irrespective of their views on the validity of such use. Faced with the continuous and rapid development of weapons, the International Committee for Red Cross has circulated and published a Guide to “Legal Reviews of New Weapons, Means and Methods of Warfare” to help governments achieve their responsibility to ensure that the use of new weapons, means or methods of warfare comply with the rules of International Humanitarian Law.

Categories of Weapons

Some of the weapons are approved, except for certain uses thereof, while others are rigorously prohibited ‘(incendiary, biological, and chemical weapons)’. The overall rule that forbids attacks against citizens is appropriate to the use of all weapons.

  1. Edged Weapons: These are any “offensive or cutting blades” or other weapons which are made of metal or steel, like knives, swords, axes, daggers, or spears. Their usage is limited by the common rules of humanitarian law, which forbid attacking non-combatants, killing, or injuring dangerously, and causing unnecessary injury or unnecessary suffering.
  1. Firearms: This is a very comprehensive class of weapons, involving all those that shoot cartridges or dangerous explosive projectiles, such as shotguns, cannons, bombs, missiles, cluster munitions, and so on. 
  1. Incendiary Weapons: These weapons fall under the classification of firearms. Their objective is to set fire to pieces or to cause burn wounds to humans. As with all these weapons, it is forbidden to use them against people and objects safeguarded by humanitarian law (e.g., civilians and civilian goods, including forests).
  1. Weapons of Mass Destruction: This denomination contains three types of weapons: biological, chemical, and nuclear. Since these are arbitrary, by nature, their usage is hard to resolve with the spirit of humanitarian law, which is centered on the military ability to differentiate between ‘civilian and military objectives, and between civilians and members of armed forces’,
  1. Bacteriological (or Biological) Weapons: Bacteriological weapons which are commonly known as biological weapons are those that aim to proliferate disease that endangers the health of human beings, animals, and plants. Customary international humanitarian law forbids the use of biological weapons in international and non-international armed conflicts.
  1. Chemical Weapons: Chemical weapons cause death, momentary incapacitation, or permanent damage to humans or animals. Mostly, they include the munitions and devices that discharge toxic chemicals. Numerous conventions prohibit their use, production, and stockpiling.

CONCLUSION

The law of armed conflict seems to be torn between two contradictory instincts– the need to wage war efficiently and the yearning to protect people and property against the consequences of such warfare. The law of armed conflict attempts to resolve these impulses, in a very profoundly pragmatic manner. International humanitarian law induces States and Non-State parties alike to try their utmost to protect and preserve the life, limb and property of non-combatants and others “hors de combat” which means ‘out of action due to injury’, while at the identical time giving parties to a battle leave to commit acts of ferocity among restricted boundaries. However, once those restrictions are contravened, once the culprits of war crimes are not brought to account for his or her indiscretions, there is a genuine desire to dismiss International humanitarian law as deficient in any real prescriptive force. This can be a noticeable response; though, it fails to comprehend the intricacies of International humanitarian law.

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Meaning, Nature and Concept of Jurisprudence

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Vanshika Arora, is a first-year B.A. LL.B student at Army Institute of Law, Mohali. This article is an introductory guide to jurisprudence. 

INTRODUCTION

Jurisprudence has been defined and studied by various thinkers and jurists over a long period of time. Hence, it is not possible to single out a common, widely accepted definition of jurisprudence. Law is dynamic, society and societal changes are dynamic in nature, therefore, the subject matter of jurisprudence inevitably evolves. Simply put, jurisprudence helps one understand the concept of law, investigate the nature of legal rules, and reflect upon the meaning of underlying legal systems. It answers questions that scrutinize legal relationships with morality, ethics, and other social phenomena. Jurisprudence finds its origin in the classical Greek period, wherein Roman jurists started delving into the concept of law. 

Meaning

The word Jurisprudence originated from the Latin word ‘Juris Prudentia’, which can be broken down into ‘Juris’ and ‘prudence’, which respectively mean ‘law’ and ‘forethought’. Jurisprudence hence means ‘knowledge of the law’ or ‘legal theory’ or ‘study of the law’.

Lord Tennyson calls it the ‘topic of Lawless Law’ since it is not derived from any legislative statute or state assembly. Moreover, jurisprudence discusses related principles such as rule of law, need, and importance of law, etc. 

Bentham, regarded as the ‘Father of Jurisprudence’, was the first one to study law. He divided his study into two parts, 

  • Expositorial Approach: This approach stated that law is to be followed ‘as it is’. Law is the command of the sovereign, hence this command should be followed without any discourse. 
  • Censorial Approach: This approach stated that law is ‘as it ought to be’. It focused on the morality of law and its latent objectives. Instead of law being merely an instrument of power and enforcement, it should also reflect what is right in terms of ethics. 

Definitions

Ulpian, the Roman Jurist, defined Jurisprudence as the observation of things, human and divine,  the knowledge of the just and the unjust.

Austin, defined jurisprudence within the limits of ‘command of the sovereign’, and did not believe in Bentham’s censorial approach. Moreover, he regarded jurisprudence as the ‘philosophy of positive law (jus positivum). As stated earlier, he believed law was an instrument of the political superior to practice command over his inferior subjects. He further divided jurisprudence into two categories, 

  • General Jurisprudence: law that is common to all.
  • Specific Jurisprudence: law that concerns itself with a specific section of the society. 

Holland regarded jurisprudence as ‘the formal science of positive law’, which is analytical in nature. He defined positive law as the general rule of external human action enforced by sovereign political authority. He further elaborated that jurisprudence is not concerned with the contents of the law, but only fundamental conceptions, making it a formal law. 

Salmond defined jurisprudence as the ‘science of law’, wherein law is civil law and law of the land. Moreover, he divided jurisprudence into two sections: 

  • General: Dealt with the entire body of legal doctrines.
  • Specific: Dealt with a particular portion of the doctrines.

Specific jurisprudence was also divided into three more sections:

  • Expository/ Systematic/Analytical: Dealt with contents of the actual legal system at any point in time, past, present, or future. 
  • Legal History: Concerned with historical legal developments 
  • Science of Legislation: Ideal future of the legal system and the purpose that it may serve.  

Keeton defined jurisprudence as the study and scientific synthesis of the essential principles of law. 

Roscoe Pound attempted to define jurisprudence as the science of law, wherein law should strictly be understood in its judicial sense, which would mean the body of principles recognized and enforced by public and regular tribunals in the administration of justice. 

Relationship with Other Social Sciences 

Social science, in its truest form, is the science of society, its people, and its nuances. Within the broad niche of social sciences, one may discover a separate science dealing with every aspect of society. May it be economics, politics, sociology, ethics, law, and so on. Jurisprudence, which loosely stated, is the knowledge of the law, relates itself to different social sciences in the following manner, 

Sociology: While a legal professional is predominantly concerned with rules and regulations that constitute law, sociology steps in to relate the ramifications of these rules within the society and serve the actual purpose behind law. Sociology concerns itself with the influence of law on society and human behavior. 

Psychology: Jurisprudence is concerned with man’s external behavior, while psychology helps legal professionals turn an eye towards mental processes, behavior, and bodily reactions to benefit the field of penology. Criminology and the process of punishment and sanction, in law, should always take into consideration, questions like, ‘the motive of a crime, ‘personality nuances of criminals’, ‘biological nuances of criminals’, etc. 

Ethics: Ethics is the science of moral, and positive human conduct. Law intends to control human conduct in a manner that is not disadvantageous to the rest of society. Hence, ethics and law cannot be divorced. Largely, all that is not ethical finds itself prohibited under the law, inviting punishment and sanction. But, morality too is subjective and changes its scope with time, making ethics and law a dynamic sect of human life. 

Economics: The relationship between economics and law is vivid. Economics is the science of production and distribution of wealth, the equitable enforcement of which, is the responsibility of law. Therefore, every legislation, legal premise, and argument focuses on economic welfare. 

Scope of Jurisprudence

In the words of Karl Lwellyn, ‘Jurisprudence is as big as law and bigger’, hinting at its vast scope. Justice PB Mukherjee stated, ‘Jurisprudence is both an intellectual and idealistic abstraction as well as the behavioral study of man in society. It includes political, social, economic, and cultural ideas. It covers that study of man in relation to state and society.’ Jurisprudence is often regarded as ‘the eye of law’ and covers a vast spectrum that cannot be limited to a particular area concerning law. It extends to the practical study of law, compares and reviews various legal systems. It also concerns itself with legal principles that are not strictly enforceable in the government machinery, regardless are essential in legal understanding. 

Conclusion

While it is common practice to study legislations and statutes to understand the law. Jurisprudence and other social sciences help the legal fraternity introspect the ramifications, effects, and results of a particular law or statute. Jurisprudence ventures into historical theories propounded by age-old jurists, hence giving contemporary professionals a taste of history and the evolution of law since then.

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INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Online Internship Opportunity at H&A Advocates and Solicitors: Apply Now!

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H&A Advocates and Solicitors require interns specifically dedicated to content writing for their website module.

Eligibility:

  • The candidate should be skilful at legal content writing/drafting.
  • H&A Advocates and Solicitors are looking for a freelancer/student/professional who is proficient in legal content writing and editing legal drafts. It is a paid opportunity. Candidates with professional experience shall be preferred.

Number of Interns:

1-2

Location:

Work From Home

Who can Apply?

Minimum Graduation

Stipend:

Rs. 2500/-

Duration of Internship

4 months

Application Procedure:

Contact:

Email ID: halawpartners@gmail.com

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JOB OPPORTUNITY: Litigation Associate at Mahajan & Mahajan | Advocates & Solicitors New Delhi: Apply Now!

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About Mahajan & Mahajan | Advocates

Mahajan & Mahajan (M&M) is a litigation focused young boutique law firm managed by Vaibhav Mahajan, Advocate (2013 enrollment). The team primarily practices in Delhi High Court, District Courts, NCLTs / NCLAT and other tribunals. The areas of practice is well diversified, spread across Civil, White Collar Criminal Laws, Arbitration and Corporate Laws.

Location: 

W-31, Greater Kailash – 1, New Delhi.

Qualifications

Candidate is required to meet our working style which requires continuous learning, in-depth research, perfection in drafting, intelligence and common sense and most importantly an out-of-box original thought process.

The candidate must be enrolled with the Bar Council in the years between 2016-2020 only. The candidate must hold good prior long-term and diversified experience in litigation with a reputed office. Shortlisted candidates will be required to submit two of their recent drafting samples by email (confidential details can be redacted).

Expectations

Independent capacity to draft as per requirements of the case, with minimum supervision, mistakes and review. Ability to independently fulfill at least 40% of the drafting requirements of the firm with / without the help of other associates. Help in the form of guidance, strategization and templates will always be at hand. Ability to lead the team and manage affairs of the Firm as an Associate. Capacity to argue complex matters.

Independent Matters / Moonshining

We would not like to encourage the Associate to undertake independent matters / moonshining during the course of association with our Office and would expect the Associate to integrate his practice with the Firm during the said period.

Working Days / Hours

Monday to Friday plus Even or Odd Saturdays. 10 am to 8 pm on days with Court Matters and 11 pm to 8 PM on days without Court Matters.

Salary

As per Industry Standards and Work Experience.

How to apply?

Interested candidates must apply through Linked-In only.

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2433973676/

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Rising Insurance Frauds in India and its remedies

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This article is written by K.Lasya Charitha pursuing BALLB in Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam. In this article, the researcher discusses Insurance frauds in India and the dire need for stricter laws to mitigate Insurance frauds.

India is one of the largest insurance company markets in the world. However, it should also be understood that India’s insurance business is at risk because Indian insurance companies face an unusually high rate of fraud. It is estimated that the Indian insurance industry has lost approximately US$6 billion due to insurance fraud in India, accounting for approximately 8.5% of all premiums collected each year. 

All sorts of insurance rules are susceptible to fraudulent claims. However, a faux declare on life insurance rules are six instances much more likely compared to different sorts of rules.

What is Insurance fraud?

Insurance fraud is an act or omission designed to provide a dishonest or illegal benefit to a fraudulent party or other related parties. Similarly, when abused, people engage in activities that contradict business ethics and medical practices, leading to an unnecessary increase in reimbursement expenses.

Insurance fraud can take any form and can be implemented in many different ways. It is willful and deliberate and done for illegal financial gain. Anyone in the insurance business can do this. Fraud is becoming more serious as the insurance business depends on trusts and promises to be kept. The purpose of insurance is to protect everyone. In the event of fraud, both the insurance company and the policyholders bear the losses. Fraud will go against the basic principles of insurance such as insurable interest, maximum good faith, immediate cause, and compensation. Fraud, therefore, affects customers who are unable to pay premiums and consequently affects their level of protection.

People who commit insurance fraud include:

  • Organized criminals who steal large amounts of money through fraud,
  • professionals and technicians who charge a lot of service costs or charge for unused services, and 
  • Common people want to cover up their franchise rights or file a lawsuit as an opportunity to make money. 

Certain types of insurance are more susceptible to fraud than others. The worst-hit sectors are usually healthcare, workers’ compensation, and auto insurance.

Claims Related Fraud: Policyholders may generally commit these kinds of frauds

  • Hide existing conditions: most personal health policies provide timeouts for existing diseases. The insured person conceals this fact by falsifying the medical report before issuing the insurance policy. 
  • Insurance terms: Young people and healthy people are obvious choices for insurance companies. People with other characteristics, such as elderly people do not necessarily have to refuse their application, but may need more rewards. In this case, they try to cover up old age or chronic diseases. Fake obstacles are also included. 
  • Double draft: The submission of forged or excessive invoices is also fraudulent, especially if no fees are incurred. Insurance required for medical expenses or surgery will be canceled. Insurance policies should not be profitable. 
  • Withholding information of multiple policies: The insured has the responsibility to inform all other insurers about existing insurance policies, whether they are group insurance or individual insurance, in order to avoid multiple claims on this subject and benefit from them.
  • Participate in fraudulent networks: One person can make false statements with another person (such as an agent, doctor, or provider), such as Change the information he inherited to file a claim. 
  • Orchestrated accident: A person might stage an accident so that they can claim compensation for their medical and hospital expenses.

Insurance Frauds in Recent Times

  • Five arrested on charges of fake life insurance claim in Telangana: In the Nalgonda area, five scammers were arrested on suspicion of committing life insurance fraud by killing people and predicting road deaths. The gang used to deliver forceful blows on the chest of the victims to kill them and then use various vehicles to drive over their bodies. Fraudsters, in consultation with family members of the deceased and others, claimed insurance sums over 1.59 crore from various private insurers after making traffic accident claims in excess of 3.39 crore.
  • Doctor, 3 Others Arrested For COVID-19 Insurance Fraud In Gujarat: The doctor and another person had used bogus medical records of two people to claim insurance to the tune of Rs. 4.5 lakh. Another person would tamper with the sticker of COVID-19 test samples and paste names of policyholders, and when these samples returned negative, he would tamper with the writing to make them positive.
  • Haryana Man Fakes Death For Insurance: According to reports, a Haryana businessman faked his death, so his family can apply for insurance. Three days after the police removed the three cremated bodies from his car, the family informed them that he had been killed in 11 lakh.

Some Policies to Control Insurance Frauds

IRDA Fraud Policy: According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRDA), all insurance companies must establish a fraud monitoring framework that includes measures to protect, prevent, detect and mitigate the risk of fraud affecting policyholders/applicants, intermediaries, and employees of insurance companies.

Anti- Fraud Policies: Insurers are expected to take a holistic approach to properly identify, measure, control and monitor fraud risk and, consequently, establish appropriate risk management policies and procedures. Once a year, and at other intervals deemed necessary, the Insurance company Board of Directors are mandated by the IRDA to review their respective Anti- Fraud policies. such guidelines should provide comprehensive guidance on fraud monitoring procedures, identifying potential fraud avenues, and guidelines for working and coordinating with government and law enforcement agencies for identifying the act of frauds. These policies also guide in building a framework that will allow them to share information with other insurance companies about sharing information about incidents and scenarios of such fraud so that they can be repaired within the insurance ecosystem.

Fraud Monitoring Function: Each insurance company is mandated to have the fraud monitoring function as a separate industry to ensure the effective implementation of anti-fraud policies. They are responsible for establishing procedures for internal reporting to/from various departments in order to train staff and agents on identifying and preventing fraud. In addition, they must keep regulators regularly informed of these incidents and the measures taken to contain these scenarios within a specified period of time. Finally, they must submit regular reviews to their respective councils for review and course correction. Insurers have an obligation to inform both prospective and existing customers about their anti-fraud policies. The insurers include the necessary precautionary measures in insurance contracts and relevant documents and explain the consequences of submitting a false or incomplete declaration in favor of the insured, the applicants, and their beneficiaries.

Insurance Fraud Control Act: India’s Urgent Need 

Although the fraud cases in 2019 left a 45 billion rupees gap in the pockets of the Indian insurance industry, India does not have an effective insurance fraud bill. In percentage terms, most insurers lose 10-15% across all lines of business, while fraudulent health insurance claims can be as high as 35%. 90% of auto insurance fraud is the result of padding claims (which means damage, injury, and fictional passengers to insurance claims). The other 10% of insurance fraud comes from staged accidents. Most frauds in life insurance occur when the insured amount is between 2 lakh and 12 lakh.

In India, there is no specific provision for insurance fraud in the Indian Criminal Code. Some sections that have some relevance are Section 205: Impersonation of a false identity for acting or proceeding in a lawsuit or law enforcement; Section 420: Fraud and dishonest induction of the transfer of property; Section 464: preparation of a false document containing characters, stamps, and forgeries, and Section 405: criminal breach of trust. However, these provisions are insufficient to prosecute a fraudster in today’s organized insurance fraud scenario. It is not customary to take legal action against insurance fraud in legal proceedings in our courts, and fraud on amounts that is not large enough is acceptable, as opposed to the time and energy invested in prosecuting it. Risk management will be a major concern of insurers and business executives who need to continually reassess their processes and policies in order to manage and mitigate the risk of fraud.

Business leaders recognize the need to address this risk, but the lack of a comprehensive and integrated approach to fraud risk management remains a concern. Insurance fraud is a huge problem, affecting the lives of innocent people, both directly through accidents and willful injury or damage, and indirectly as these crimes cause insurance premiums to rise every year. Honest customers shouldn’t have to pay the price of scammers through higher premiums. Compared to other crimes, insurance fraud judgments are milder and lower. If the Indian insurance industry is currently working to reduce costs, one of its main focuses in controlling or reducing costs is on proactively ending fraud, this can be achieved through an effective fraud risk assessment program and with dedicated investigation units in each organization.

Before reporting a case, awareness of the proper functioning of the law should be raised. Central and state governments should also give serious thought to enacting specific laws to combat insurance fraud and establish insurance fraud bureaus. Academicians around the world and anti-fraud professionals working in the insurance industry believe that India should consider the Insurance Fraud Control Act, in accordance with the laws of various US states, as a starting point for discussion and bringing the discussion about the bill in the parliament as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Although there are various policies and institutions in India that deal with insurance fraud, we are still seeing a lot of fraud and losses to businesses and firms. As we can see, our country has a lot of insurance fraud that is losing businesses. This translates into around 40,000 rupees annually or 8.5 percent of the industry’s turnover. Individuals and insurance companies should also take more precautions about false insurance claims as they need to ensure that the claims insurance companies are paying for are real or not. So, there is a very serious need for the Insurance Frauds Control Act in India to control all kinds of Insurance Fraud occurring in and around the country.

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The Fugitive Economic Offenders’ Act, 2018: An Overview

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This article is written by APURVA, a student of Fairfield Institute of Management and Technology, GGSIPU. This article gives an overview of “The Fugitive Economic Offenders’ Act, 2018”.

ABSTRACT

Development of any Country basically depends on the growth of the industries which involves huge investments from financial sectors and banks. But over Past few years, a rise in the number of banking frauds has been seen and Mr. Vijay Mallaya was the first person to gather all the highlights towards him. Various factors like negligence of the authorities, lack of due persistent efforts while giving out loans, etc., can be the reasons for such frauds. Though, the government recognized that the reason for frauds could be the absence of strict means in the legal system of the country. Hence, an ordinance introducing ‘Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill’ was brought before the President which later was passed in the monsoon session of 2018 by the Lok Sabha. This article deals with the same.

Keywords:  Banking Frauds, Negligence of the Authorities, Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, Lok Sabha

INTRODUCTION

Envisaged by the 2017 Union Budget for the first time, the “Fugitive Economic Offenders’ Act” was originally enacted in the form of ordinance. This Act came into force on 21 April 2018.

The Preamble of this act states that it aims to scare off the fugitive economic offenders from evading the mechanism of law of India by staying away from the jurisdiction of Indian Courts preserving the sanctity of Indian Law.

This act relies heavily on the ‘PMLA’- Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, but both aims to achieve different goals.     

Who is a Fugitive Economic Offender

The Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018 defines a fugitive economic offender as:

“any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to a scheduled offence has been issued by any court in India, who 

  1. has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or 
  2. being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution”.

To ask a court that a particular individual may be declared an FEO an application is filed in the special court accompanied by the reasons for the belief that the individual is a fugitive economic offender or any information available as to the whereabouts of the fugitive economic offender and, a list of properties or the value of such properties believed to be the proceeds of crime, etc. Then a notice is issued to the individual to appear at a specified place and drop the proceedings if the individual obeys. However, if the court is satisfied that the individual is an FEO, it may be recorded along with reasons. The court may then order the seizure of the properties of the accused individual in India and abroad.

Mallya Scam

Vijay Mallya is an Indian businessman and a former member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). He became the chairman of United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL) and grew its company rapidly. From 1998 to 1999, the turnover of the company grew by 64%. He also Diversified the business of the company by acquiring many other companies like Berger Paints. He was also elected as a member of parliament twice from Karnataka. The company achieved the milestone of selling 10 crores cases in India and became the second-largest spirits company in India.

Vijay Mallya wanted to expand his business. His advisors advised him not to but despite the advice, he did the same and sold another company formed by his father to fund its airline company. Soon Kingfisher became India’s no.1 domestic airline company but due to some restrictions, the Indian Government did not allow kingfishers to fly internationally. To fly international flights, he bought Deccan Air as a loss-making company and merged it with Kingfisher Airlines but could not make the profits thus by 2010 his business was in a heavy loss.

To run his business, he continuously took loans of 9000 crores by 17 different banks. Although SBI has declared them as bankrupt, other banks kept lending him loans because he was a member of Rajya Sabha, and some parties supported him. His company also held service tax of passengers, PF, Income Tax of Employees, but did not submit to the PF or IT authorities. The company also did not pay the salary of its employees as it ran out of cash. 

In 2012 the company ultimately had to shut down its operation. Vijay Mallya had a loan of 9000 from different banks which he denied paying. The Company United Breweries compelled Vijay Mallya to resign the post of chairman of united spirits and paid him $75M for a severance payment, but Indian courts blocked this payment. 

A case against Vijay Mallya was filed by SBI and other banks but before any action could have been taken against him, he flew away to the United Kingdom. There is also a story of him that he offers the banks to pay 4000 crores for settlement, but banks refused his proposal and demanded at least 4900 crores, the principal amount furthermore interests as well. 

Later he was announced to be a fugitive economic offender (FEO) on the request of the Enforcement Directorate by a special court in Mumbai and became the very first businessman to be announced as FEO under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.

An Analysis of the Provision

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act provides a method of deterrence for those offenders who commit frauds in India and hide in a retreat in a foreign country. This act empowers the authorities to impound and sell the properties in question to realise the money. The act has also included the properties which are situated abroad as well those which are a part of the benami transactions. Further in order to avoid any kind of delays due to the pendency of cases, the act prevents the FEO from filing any civil claim or defending any claim before the Courts. To balance such prevention, it has been endowed as a discretionary power on the Courts or Tribunals in India. The act also further refers to the creation of a Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to provide speedy justice to the financial institutions and banks while making their recovery.

CONCLUSION

The proceedings commenced under the “Fugitive Economic Offenders’ Act, 2018” will automatically come to an end as soon as the economic offenders will surrender themselves before the jurisdiction of the Indian Courts. Thus, this is an act, to bring back the economic offenders to the country. It is a ray of hope for the banks and financial institutions who are the victims of such offences. Whereas the enactment of the 2018 act provides for the confiscation of property which is situated abroad. However, certain amendments and clarifications may be welcomed for effective implementation rather than just concentrating on recovery from foreign assets. 

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Let’s Sue and Claim during Pandemic

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This article is written by Vishrut Gupta, a student of Lloyd Law College. This article aims to explain to the readers about the connection between the Covid 19 on-going crisis and the rising scope application of Torts Law in today’s time.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s time, if anything left to be discussed, it has to be the pandemic. The world has been struggling with the pandemic for about a year now. Some economies have recovered now, some are in their worst phase due to the loans and burdens, and some are still struggling. The second wave has added fuel to the blazing fire when the situation was asking to improve. But, it comes down to one question- “Where did it all start?” The virus leak from Wuhan’s laboratory is the origin of this pandemic. Therefore, some experts say that China should compensate for creating this whole pandemic due to their negligence. “This would include both the civil as well as a criminal offence”, says Nitsana Darsham Leitner, an Israeli Attorney. But this article would especially emphasize the civil aspects of China’s act. Torts have taken entry in this Covid crisis where the wrongdoer, i.e. Chinese are believed to be liable for the spread of this deadly virus.

How Torts is applicable

The basic definition is- “A tort is a wrong done against an individual which infringes his legal rights and duties and creates damage to that person.” The most elementary rights of every individual i.e. ‘the right to life’ and ‘right to live freely’ have been encroached due to the deadly virus, so this is a civil wrong. It has impounded everyone to their houses, brought various economies to their knees, and killed more than three million people to date. China is solely responsible for creating this wreck globally. But, can a country be sued for its actions in the court of law? It can only happen at an international level where all the countries will have to come together and file a petition in The International Court of Justice. China rightly condemns all the allegations to put on it and tries to clear its name with regards to this pandemic. No one wants to take responsibility and that’s why the Torts law is relevant here to do justice when there has been a collective loss to mankind done.

Treaties and Laws Dealing with the Epidemic Spread

Sadly, till now there is no such international treaty to address the global spread of such fatal diseases and infections like Covid. The world witnessed the SARS outbreak in 2002, unfortunately, which also was 1st identified in China. Then the question comes, since that time why there isn’t any such law in regards to the international spread of the virus. The negligence of some has resulted in the destruction and suffering of many. There is a clear infringement of Article 25 of the Human Rights Declaration which states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being.” 

What India and other Countries Say?

The Chinese authorities have declared that countries like India, the USA and Australia are responsible for the spread of this worldwide infection. A telephonic survey conducted by an institution in Bengaluru finds that 67% of Indians believe that China is responsible for this pandemic. It is clear that the virus came out from the wet markets of the city of Wuhan and spread out in different countries across the globe. But officially, India has not joined the other countries like the US and France to blame China for the Covid spread. India is silent and currently fighting against the virus, also there hasn’t been any evidence found against China to blame her. Although, a team from the US was sent to investigate the Wuhan lab, for finding traces of the origin of Covid. Then, China should pay compensation to some economies for causing the mass destruction. The fact of the matter is that in Torts i.e. civil cases, there is no requirement of evidence. Merely proving a civil wrong and damage will suffice. For a criminal case, strong evidence must reach the court.  

Businessmen and Torts

In other aspects where torts law is applicable is the shutdown of the whole economies and the various restrictions over trade. The businesses have suffered a huge loss, some traders even had to shut their business and sell assets for bread and butter. The continuous lockdown everywhere astonishingly resulted in the unprecedented shrink of the global economy and created recessions. Some businessmen have filed civil suits against the government for the losses in their business while some have filed for losing their family members due to poor health facilities.

Workplace Exposure and Torts

Another aspect came from the workplace exposure to the virus. It was also found that the people who were affected from their workplaces filed suits for damages. This comes under absolute liability which is a concept of torts law where the boss is responsible for the damages done to its employees at the workplaces. Last year, in the state of Pennsylvania, such a suit was filed by the estate for an employee who died of Coronavirus infection by getting affected at the workplace. We have seen the frontline workers especially doctors and nursing staff getting infected by the virus. For the sake of their devotion and commitment to their duties, they should also be given compensation. Recently, a case was seen in New Delhi, where the family members of the patient attacked the doctors and nurses because they could not save the patient and the patient died of the corona. This is a clear offence of Assault and Battery under torts for which that family should pay damages for the injuries done to the doctors.

About Present Indian Situation

If we talk about India, we have the latest incidents where the governments, High Courts and other bodies played a collective role in spreading the Covid and putting the life of billions of people at risk. The Kumbh Mela was organised where thousands of people came in contact. All the covid norms were torn apart by the government itself. Torts Law is equivalently applicable in this case also. The Legislative Assembly Elections were allowed and conducted in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the union territory of Puducherry during the second wave at its peak. This is the biggest example of selfishness and political blindness, which resulted in the sudden increase in covid cases and deaths of thousands of people. Say, we can sue and bring the government to courts also but what about the High-Courts. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, it was seen that the Allahabad High Court itself allowed the Panchayati Raj elections at the cost of the precious lives of the people. All these bodies, the government, the Courts; it is affirmative to hold them liable for the spread of the virus and the deaths of people. Not only the civil cases run over them for damages to the families, but they should also be charged with criminal offenses as their actions have made India sit on their knees.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is the need of the hour to start civil trials and include the Torts Law wherever the wrong has been done. Throughout this pandemic, we have seen that innocents have suffered and lost their close ones due to the negligence of some. In some countries, people have been cheated most likely due to such a stressful situation, they have paid more than justified for almost everything right from the fruits to ventilators. They should file suits considering Torts Laws and seek compensation. Better functioning of the system is required so that these situations can be avoided and the innocents cannot be exploited anymore. There is an urgent need for collective representation of all the countries in the international courts to sue the wrongdoer. The pertinent international laws and treaties need to be formed now to avoid the repetition of a similar situation in future where we are unable to bring the wrongdoer to courts due to loopholes in the system and laws.

The views expressed by the author in this article are personal

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