Justice Denied Through Obsolete Laws and Upheld Through Judicial Discretion: A Comparative Analysis from South Asia

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Obsolete Laws; Judicial Discretion; Statutory Interpretation

Abstract

The legal systems in South Asia continue to follow statutes enacted during the colonial era. Some of these obsolete laws fail to meet the contemporary needs of society. Thus, they undermine justice, which is one of the primary objectives of the law. When laws are outdated, the role of the judiciary becomes vital. However, the judicial discretion is subject to statutory limitations and guided by the rules of statutory interpretation. Statutory reform is a cumbersome and protracted process. Therefore, when the judiciary finds no solution within the law and precedent, judicial discretion becomes the most plausible approach. A few examples of progressive judicial decisions include Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018) and the judicial interpretation of the Adoption of Children Ordinance No. 24 of 1941 of Sri Lanka in a case heard before the District Court of Colombo in August 2025. The study aims to identify obsolete statutes from South Asia that have created negative impacts on the administration of justice, analyze landmark cases where the judiciary has intervened diligently, evaluate the limitations of judicial discretion, and propose how judicial discretion could be systematically utilized to advance justice concerning obsolete laws. The study employs a doctrinal research methodology focusing on primary sources such as legislation and case law across South Asia, and secondary sources such as scholarly writings while examining the theories of statutory interpretation, separation of powers and judicial law-making. The study becomes significant as it suggests a positive approach towards overcoming discrimination caused by the law itself.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - D. Saumya Bulathwela
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/30
TI  - Justice Denied Through Obsolete Laws and Upheld Through Judicial Discretion: A Comparative Analysis from South Asia
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Challenges and Trends in Arts and Social Sciences (ICCTASS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 144
EP  - 152
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-581-2_12
ID  - Bulathwela2026
ER  -