Context
Three Bills that the national government has introduced in the Lok Sabha would replace the country's current criminal laws if they were passed. However, we need to overhaul the organisations in charge of criminal justice if we want to see true change.

Reviewing the Function of Criminal Law  
·         Order and Law By highlighting the connection between social order and criminal law enforcement, new measures seek to strengthen law and order.
·         Limited Efficacy: Criminal law has a limited ability to control crime since it only focuses on punishing individuals, obscuring the systemic causes of crime.
·         Questioning the Overhaul: It is important to look at the real motivations behind these legislative changes.

The Individualistic Approach to Criminal Law  
·         Outdated Viewpoint: Criminal law ignores the influence of societal circumstances, placing full responsibility for crimes on individual criminals.
·         Environmental Factors: Studies show that social factors, education, and socioeconomic status all have a significant impact on risk-taking and decision-making.
·         Ignorance of Environmental Factors: Criminal law’s emphasis on individual responsibility neglects the social and environmental factors at play in criminal behaviour.
 
Challenges in reforming criminal justice 
·         Symbolic action: Governments overstate criminal law’s capacity to reduce crime by using legislative reforms as a means of symbolic punishment rather than real change
·         Power dynamics: Criminal law can serve as a tool of oppression by disproportionately targeting the marginalized and vulnerable
·         Complete Reconfiguration: Real reform requires a comprehensive re-think of the whole criminal justice system including police, courts and support services

LTX Mains Question  
Q. What are the limitations of legislative reform in criminal law as a means of strengthening law and order and highlight the need for wider institutional reconfiguration?