South Asian Attitudes to Law

Many of the attitudes of the South Asians, and in particular Indians, is formed by their historical experience in their societies and their current position both in India and outside. During the Moghul period in India the law was the dictates of the ruler. The concepts of democracy and rule of law were brought by the English who ruled India for about 250 years after the Moghul period right until the independence of India in 1947.

The British Administration brought the adversarial court system and the Common Law which was superimposed on the Hindu and Moslem Law and other religious laws which governed the personal law of the individuals in accordance with their respective religions. At the time of the independence the country was left economically poor without means for the majority of the Indian population to spend money on the luxury of the protection of legal rights. The corruption, partly arising out of the grinding poverty, and the lack of strong nationalism created  the legal and judicial decision making process which favoured the rich who could buy not only the time of the lawyer but in some cases the judgment. This put the justice and law in disrepute and the legal system to be used only as a very last resort.

The legacy of ill reputed justice system compounded by the excessive delays in rendering judgments resulted in many avoiding the legal and judicial system rather than seeking justice when needed. India as a religious society depended in the past and still to some degree still depends today on the dispute resolution through elders and the ‘Panchayat’ which is aimed at finding the resolution rather than seeking legal justice.

The culture of avoiding legal system is deeply ingrained. It has become a part of the attitude which affects how the Indians and their counterparts in the west perceive their legal rights.  Individuals would rather suffer than ask for legal protection. A good example of this is the position of a separated woman who could ask for support in the court but would rather go to her parents, than commence an action. In a commercial situation, if the person is asking for the money lent, he would rather for go a smaller amount than claim it in a legal system. For bigger amounts he must be ready to wait out many adjournments easily granted by the Indian courts. In Tort Law the injured party would rather suffer the damages than seek redemption against the tort feasor as in the case of an accident.

Those who migrate to the west, very often carry some of these attitudes. These attitudes continue for a generation and the next generation becomes more assertive. The second generation growing up in the west usually gets sensitized in the school system where law is often an optional subject and they are more willing to assert their legal rights.  The public in USA, Canada and England carry

different attitudes to law. USA is the most assertive for the citizens. The local attitudes modify the attitudes of the new generations of immigrants. In bringing about these changes some adapt faster than others in absorbing local attitudes.

About 30 years ago there were about 30 to 40 lawyers in Canada in the South Asian Communities. Today there are about 400 lawyers of South Asian Origin in the Metro Toronto Area alone. The rise in numbers affects the accessibility to law and legal institutions and attitudes of the South Asian public as a group. The rise in prosperity also helps to provide the resources necessary to carry out litigation and develop the attitude of assertion. In USA the average household income of the Indian families is above the average household income of the average American family.

In Canada the legal support still is a luxury of the well off. Legal advice is still not regarded as a necessity for the public funding as the medical help is. The Legal Aid in Canada is available, but currently only supports causes at the lower end of the society for matters such as Landlord and Tenant Law, Immigration and Family Matters. South Asians have adjusted well in this legal environment. Part if the reason is that the Common Law System is used in India.

The Indian sub-continent is bigger than the whole of Europe put together with more diversity of language and culture. It is therefore difficult to generalize. But if one can generalize South Asians generally shy away from the system because of the costs and cultural attitude. From amongst the South Asians, Punjabi community is more likely to use the law and legal system than Gujartis when it comes to asserting their legal rights. It is therefore not surprising that there are more Punjabi lawyers than Gujarati lawyers in the South Asian Community. Punjabi families are more likely to encourage their children to be lawyers which reflects in their numbers in Mississauga and Brampton Areas. Indian women are now entering the legal profession in good numbers but not necessarily in the same proportion as their Canadian counterparts.

The general public of South Asian origin generally under estimate the value in a lawyer’s work because of the cultural background and history and to some degree lack of understanding of the legal system in Canada or USA. This can result in wrangling over fees and sometimes it ends up in assessment hearings. The tendency is for the consumer of legal services to view the legal work as less important than the final results obtained in courts or tribunals. In other words a winning of a case justifies the fees but the time spent for doing the case is not seen as valuable. Lawyers serving South Asian communities go through this learning process on a daily basis. 

The respect level for the judges and legal institutions in the South Asian Communities is generally high and that comes from the traditional culture which instills a sense of respect for the parents and authority figures. The unfortunate part of this attitude is that a South Asian litigant may not assert his position in the court room strongly unless he is represented by a lawyer who is willing to state his position strongly. The same attitude works to ensure that the proportion of the South Asians in jails is one of the lowest of any community including the average of the Canadians.

Currently, the lawyers of South Asian Origin reflect a fair amount of diversity in the positions they occupy and the range of legal areas of practice, including Government, Private Practice and in other administrative jobs and have shown remarkable adjustment as lawyers competing with their Canadian counterparts. There is a dearth of them in Judicial and other senior positions in tribunals and Deputy Ministerial type of positions.