regData, an initiative of the RegData, an initiative of the Mercatus Center, is an effort to quantify various aspects of regulation. The Mercatus Center created RegData in 2012 with an aim to “introduce an objective, replicable, and transparent methodology for measuring regulation.” It uses custom-made text analysis and a machine-learning algorithm to measure the different features of law. These features include volume, restrictiveness and linguistic complexity. Together, these metrics indicate the regulatory burden a particular law, department or ministry imposes.

India, one of the largest democracies in the world with an ever-rising population, has had, several statutes that with the advent of time have become obsolete, redundant or repetitive. In addition to this, there is the matter of inconsistent language and dissemination- making it difficult for an ordinary citizen to access and comprehend the plethora of legal information with ease. This increased transaction cost coupled with glaring redundancy further breeds fertile grounds for corruption, discouraging the engagement of individuals and firms with the society/ economy at large.

The essence of good governance is good laws. For rule of law to operate, laws must be well-written and well-coded. Laws must be precise, principles-based, and should stand the test of time. Statues that are obsolete, redundant, repetitive, or inconsistent only create chaos for the masses and provide unnecessary powers in the hands of implementing agencies, weakening the social fabric and incentivising corruption.

The essence of good governance is good laws. For rule of law to operate, laws must be well-written and well-coded. Laws must be precise, principles-based, and should stand the test of time. Statues that are obsolete, redundant, repetitive, or inconsistent only create chaos for the masses and provide unnecessary powers in the hands of implementing agencies, weakening the social fabric and incentivising corruption.

iJustice – a public interest legal advocacy initiative of the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) in collaboration with The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) and Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP) at the O.P. Jindal Global University jointly hosted the International Conference on “Law and Liberty” on 18-19 Sep at the University Campus in Sonipat.

We review whether criminalising cheque bounce cases has been an effective remedy. We also study the penalties imposed in other countries against cheque bounce offenders and analyse their effective implementation in India.

CCS's iJustice, NIPFP Macro/Finance Group, and Vidhi Legal Centre, along with lawyers, legislative experts and economists have identified 100 Laws for repeal to help the administration live up to a key election message.