First Precedent Research · A journal of Indian law, in conversation with scholars everywhere
Scholarship with a standard.
FPR has three parts, written by Indian law students. The encyclopedia explains Indian law as it stands. The review looks at how it got that way and where courts disagree. The proposals argue for changes.
Around them, scholars in any country set their own law beside each Indian entry, and researchers put unpublished work before professors for opinion, with a dated record that the work was theirs first.
A-02This week
A-03A line of cases
The review traces how a rule changed from one judgment to the next. This is one such line.
1950
A.K. Gopalan
Any procedure a statute lays down is enough.
1962
Kharak Singh
A dissent says liberty includes privacy.
1970
R.C. Cooper
A law is tested by its effect on rights.
1978
Maneka Gandhi
The procedure must be fair, just and reasonable.
2017
Puttaswamy
Privacy is a fundamental right.
Article 21, 1950 to 2017 · From Gopalan to Maneka · Privacy, from M.P. Sharma to Puttaswamy
A-04How the journal is organised
Choose a kind of piece to start browsing.
Level 3
Proposals
Law that India does not have yet
Level 2
Review
How the law got that way, and where courts disagree
Level 1
Encyclopedia
Indian law as it stands
The 14 forms
There are 14 kinds of piece, grouped into three levels. Point at one to see what it covers.
A-05Write for FPR
Pick an entry nobody has written and write it. An editor will work through it with you.