Primer on New Criminal Laws (NCL)

By Dr. Neeraj Tiwari | National Law University

Learners enrolled: 2281

The colonial Indian criminal law continued in the post Independent era. Since 1950, when India got her own Constitution, the constitutional inferences on the working of the criminal laws became apparent. The Constitutional foundations of the criminal laws have shaped the boundaries of the administration of criminal justice. The New Criminal Laws viz. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 have replaced the colonial laws from 1^st July 2024. The primer on New Criminal Laws takes the learners through the process of reforms in the century old criminal laws of the country. It covers all three laws and in total has 20 modules. The modules provide detailed information about addition and deletion of offences, change in the punishment regime, newly introduced processes in the crime reporting & investigation, introduction of timeline & technology in the processes and procedures, victim centric reforms, electronic evidence related reforms among others.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Not Applicable
Language for course content :	Hindi
Duration :	Self Paced
Category :	Law
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate

Page Visits

Course layout

1. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

Module 1: Introduction

Module 2: Deleted Offences

Module 3: Newly Added Offences: Incomplete Offence, Offence against Woman and Child

Module 4: Newly Added Offences: Offence affecting Human Body

Module 5: Newly Added Offences: Offence against State, Public Tranquillity and Of Contempts of the Lawful Authority of Public Servants

Module 6: Newly Added Offences: Offence against Property

Module 7: Age Uniformity and Gender Neutrality

Module 8: Punishment related Reforms

Module 9: Other Reforms

2. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

Module 1: Introduction

Module 2: Prosecution related Reforms and Punishment related Procedural Changes

Module 3: Reforms in Crime Reporting: FIR and Complaint Mode

Module 4: Investigation Process, Recording of Statement, Search and Seizure

Module 5: Arrest and Custody

Module 6: Police Report, Cognizance and Committal

Module 7: Trial Procedure

Module 8: Victim and Bail Centric Reforms

Module 9: Proclaimed Offender related changes and Other Reforms

3. Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023

Module 1: Overview of changes brought to the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

Module 2: Electronic Evidence and other Reforms

Books and references

S.N. Mishra Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 24^th Edition, 2024, EBC.

Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (In 2 Volumes) 23^rd Edition, 2024, EBC.

J.K. Verma, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Criminal Procedure): A Commentary, 1^st Edition, 2024, EBC.

Vageshwari Deswal, Saurabh Kansal, Shruti Goyal, Taxmann's Editorial Board, Law and Practice Series – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) | Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) | Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) | Set of 3 Books, 2023.

Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (In 2 Volumes), 27^th Edition, 2024.

Instructor bio

Neeraj Tiwari holds Ph.D. from National Law University Delhi and LL.M. from Indian Law Institute, Delhi. Before joining NLU Delhi, he served as a faculty at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur and National Judicial Academy, Bhopal. At NLU Delhi, he teaches Criminal Procedure Law at under-graduate and post-graduate levels. He also teaches Criminal Law (Hons.) Specialisation at under-graduate level.

He has worked as ‘Senior Faculty’ in the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws (CRCL) constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to suggest reforms in criminal laws. He has been engaged as a ‘Consultant’ by the Ministry of Home Affairs to carry out the work related to New Criminal Laws (BNS 2023, BNSS 2023 and BSA 2023). He has also been engaged as a ‘Consultant’ by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to carry out the work related to the implementation of the New Criminal Laws. He has been awarded the Director General’s Disc and Certificate by the Director General, BPR&D for his contribution in the work related to the New Criminal Laws.

He has been appointed as a Member of the Drafting Committee to formulate ‘Suitable Guidelines on Seizure, Examination and Presentation of Personal Digital and Electronic Devices and their Content Applicable for all LEAs’. The Guidelines were submitted before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the matter of Ram RamaSwamy v. Union of India (WP(s)(Cri) 138/2021) and Foundation for Media Professionals v. Union of India (WP(s)(Cri) 395/2022).

His course on New Criminal Laws was launched on iGOT Karmayogi Bharat, which is the first course in the country on New Criminal Laws.

Since the enactment of the New Criminal Laws he has been invited to many prestigious institutions and organisations to create awareness on the New Criminal Laws. So far he has interacted with LEAs and Judicial Officers of approx. 9 States. He has taken sessions for Judicial Officers of Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Tripura, Bihar. He has been instrumental in the training courses on New Criminal Laws for Delhi Police, Uttarakhand Police, Chhattisgarh Police, NIA, ED, CBI. He has attended as ‘Panelist’ in the ‘Conferences on New Criminal Laws’ organised by the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India in Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.
He has been associated with the UGC ePG Pathshala Project on the subjects ‘Law’ and ‘Criminology’ in the capacity of Paper Coordinator and successfully coordinated two courses on ‘Criminal Justice Administration’ and ‘Penology and Sentencing’. His MOOC on ‘Criminal Justice Administration’ is one of the leading courses on the SWAYAM portal.

He has visited University of Würzburg, Germany under the DAAD- A Passage to India programme. During his stay in Germany, he delivered lectures at University of Würzburg and University of Passau.

His doctoral work on ‘Role of Magistracy at Pre-trial Stage under the Indian Criminal Justice System: A Critical Study’ is the maiden empirical study on Pre-trial role of Judicial Magistrates in India.

He has many published papers to his credit and presented several papers in national and international conferences. His areas of interest are criminal law and criminal justice, access to justice, child rights and juvenile justice.