Religious Discrimination in India

Several media sources have covered the results of the recent comprehensive study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life on religious freedom in the world: http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=491. India did not fare well. Here is a link to coverage of the report in India: http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=491.

My limited observations: I saw no legal or social limits on freedom of religion while in India. However, Christians with whom I spoke remarked on subtle forms of discrimination. For example, members of low castes and other "backwards" groups lose government reservations (i.e., affirmative action) if they are no longer Hindu. After all, the official reasoning goes, there's no need for reservations for Christians because Christians don't have castes. Conversion to Christianity also works against promotions for government employees, at least as Christians perceive it. Even Christian public religious activities are subjected to a greater level of official scrutiny (e.g., needing permits for public processions) than festivals associated with Hindu deities.

Nonetheless, Christians continue to share their faith and the Church continues to grow in India.

The Edge of Contracts Part 2

As promised on 3 December (http://pryorthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/12/edge-of-contracts.html), follow-up on the Indian surrogacy case: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/SC-enters-surrogacy-debate--asks-if-an-Indian-baby-is-a--commodity-/554760

If Only Jeff Davis Had Gone On A Hunger Strike . . .

While India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Copenhagen, the real power behind the throne, Sonia Gandhi (leader of the Congress Party) agreed to permit part of the large Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to secede. Well, not from India but to form the new state of Telangana. Thing is, no one at the national level thought to ask the current state government what it thought of the idea. News report indicate significant civil unrest: see the Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Telangana-move-splits-AP-parties-on-regional-lines/articleshow/5324589.cms

Apparently the ongoing hunger strike by the leader of the secessionist party turned the trick on the easily flummoxed leaders in Delhi. For some reason I don't think Abe Lincoln would have been too upset had Jefferson Davis tried the same trick.

The Edge of Contracts

Reports have it that surrogate motherhood is a thriving business in the Indian State of Gujarat. Most states in the U.S. enacted laws to regulate surrogacy after the imbroglio described in the Baby M case (109 N.J. 396, 537 A.2d 1227 (1988)). Four of my 1L Contracts students "argued" this case to the class and we used it as a springboard to discuss limits to what may be "commodified" and thus subject to contract law. From a normative point of view, the obligation to keep one's promises would lead to enforcement of surrogacy contracts. Similarly, the presumptive welfare-enhancing nature of such contracts would augur for enforcement. The nature of human beings as bearers of God's image as well as the covenantal structure of human relationships, however, suggest that the law exercise some caution in this area.

This linked article suggests that India should take some legislative action in this field: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/German-or-Indian-Surrogate-twins-in-legal-no-mans-land/articleshow/5286325.cms?sms_ss=email. This case is now before India's Supreme Court and I hope to be able to keep track of it.

Props to Mike Schutt and Redeeming Law

A book's that's definitely worth the read. No fluff; lots of substance: Redeeming Law:http://networkedblogs.com/p19706346

Arbitration In India

Early this year I blogged about my comments at the annual meeting of the Indian Society of International Law. Several of the members of my panel spoke about the sorry state of arbitration in India. I addressed the use of arbitration to avoid the vagaries of local law of which India has more than a few (http://pryorthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/isil-and-nlu-delhi_09.html).

A few months later I added some words about the comments of Fali Nariman to the same effect: India's arbitration system is broken and sophisticated arbitral cases are going to Hong Kong and Singapore (http://pryorthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/arbitration-not-litigation_28.html).

Maybe times are about to change. Several sources have reported that the Delhi High Court will open a high tech, high profile arbitration council on 25 November: http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/23233526/Delhi-high-court-to-start-arbi.html?h=B I hope this marks a new willingness on the part of India's judiciary, which has jealously guarded its prerogatives, to catch up with East Asia's move to easy access to arbitration as well as to increase its standing and visibility as India grows as a player in international commerce.

Religious Legal Theory Conference

Back from last week's conference hosted by Seton Hall Law School on "Religious Legal Theory: State of the Field."  Many Christian (Catholic and Evangelical) and Jewish scholars as well as a Muslim and a Buddhist professor spoke.  Sadly, my colleague M.S.Rajpurohit form NLU-Jodhpur at the last minute was unable to make it.  Rob Vischer's (University of St. Thomas) and Amy Uelmen's (Seton Hall) addresses greatly impressed me.  I'll work Amy's comments on a Trinitarian theory of the (lack of a) duty to render assistance in Torts will find its way into my discussion next semester of mitigation of damages in Contracts.

I was pleased that nothing Zach Calo (Valparaiso) said about human rights contradicted what I planned to say.  I worked with Nick Wolterstorff ("Justice: Rights and Wrongs"--see many of my pryorpostsindia blog entries) and Alan Jacobs ("Original Sin: A Cultural History") to provide an account for primary and secondary human rights as well as spreading the forums for vindication of violations of human rights across multiple jurisdictions.  Several good questions and suggestions from the audience.

Bottom line: even though, as David Skeel (UPenn) pointed out, the elite law reviews resist publishing distinctively Christian legal scholarship, plenty of it is happening by many folks at a variety of law schools.  Props to David Opderbeck and Angela Carmella for making this conference happen.