Hawaii SC selects 5 JGLS students for externship

New Delhi: Five students of the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) have been selected for summer judicial clerkships at the Supreme Court of Hawaii, United States starting in June 2019.

Jindal Global University (JGU) vice-chancellor C Raj Kumar said the five students have been selected for the externship based on academic background and their performance in an interview conducted by judges of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.

The programme was first conceived during the visit of Hawaiian Supreme Court Judge Justice Michael Wilson in 2015 and till 2018, a total of 18 students from the JGLS have interned at the Hawaii Supreme Court, he said.

Sajal Mendiratta, Tanshi Bajaj, Suhas Putta, Siddharth Sharma, and Kartikeya Jaiswal of the JGLS have been selected for the externship, a media release issued here said.

These students have been selected for the externship following an interview and screening by the visiting judges of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.

The vice-chancellor said the students will be closely mentored by some of the most outstanding judicial minds and it will help to broaden the horizons and their perspectives for pursuing a future career in the judiciary.

"This judicial clerkship will provide JGU students an extraordinary opportunity to witness the functioning of the judicial process in the USA besides enabling them to understand the nuances of law and justice in the US legal system," said Kumar.

An interactive session titled 'Candid Conversations on Careers in Law and Justice: Judges as Conscience Keepers of Democracy', was organised at the JGU, featuring a discussion between Justices Michael Wilson and Sabrina McKenna of the Hawaiian Supreme Court and Prof Kumar.

The panelists deliberated on topics like the role and motivations of a judge, contributions of the judiciary to society and its role in protecting democracy.

Explaining a judge's role in ensuring democratic rights, Justice McKenna said the threats that a democracy faces is to be countered by law and judiciary, and lawyers have to step forward to ensure justice and make people believe in the role of law.