Indian Courts are like everything else in India...

Crowded, a little insane, but somehow productive. In the last week or so, I've been to the Delhi High Court (roughly equivalent to U.S. Appellate/Circuit courts), and the Indian Supreme Court. A random set of impressions, many of which I'm sure I will expand upon in the future:

The courts here have a fairly strict dress code of black and white - all advocates must wear black and white, with a black blazer, and a white neck band. However, because of varying dress of people in India (particularly women), the white and black can take the form of white shirt with black pants, black and white salwar kameez, black and white sari, white kameez on top of black pants, etc. The weight of tradition is really felt when you see a women in a sari with a black blazer and white neck band on top. In the Supreme Court, all of the above is required, along with a black robe (similar to what judges in the U.S. wear). I've taken to wearing the traditional black and white, if only so people will think I'm an advocate and I can get away with going places more so than if I was otherwise dressed.

There's quite a bit of hustle and bustle in both courts, as there are dozens of courtrooms, and on any given day, there are dozens of matters listed. There are no set case hearing times, and if you're in Court No. 3, Item No. 7, it could be heard at 10:45am, or 2pm, depending on how long the previous matters take. The judges try to efficiently deal with cases by allowing for "passover" (if the advocates have to be elsewhere, or the advocates/judges know there will be extensive oral argument), and moving quickly through the remaining cases. Judges will often dictate their judgments from the bench, while court is in session (which slows things down, but has the nice advantage of instant gratification to know the ruling). There are no time limits when it comes to oral argument - if you're a persuasive advocate, the judge will listen as long as you will speak. Conversely, if the judge has made up his mind, there's nothing you can say to make them listen longer. The judges are addressed as "Your Lordships."

There's almost no transition time - the advocates are waiting on the sidelines to take up the prime positions as soon as their matter is called. In fact, it's nearly impossible to hear the opening words of any case argument, because of the sounds of shifting paper and people as the old matter is cleared and the next one takes center stage. Each courtroom (panel of two judges, typically) will hear upwards of 50 cases a day - ranging from deciding whether to take a petition, deciding on an interim order of relief, and hearing the final argument of the case.

There is also an interesting quirk of the use of law clerks for various legal offices. As far as I can tell, they're a mix of paralegal and administrative assistant, handling all case files for a given office, and will also do the transport from office to courtroom. This makes it a little difficult when you have a case if the court clerks are elsewhere in the building, and you need your case file in another courtroom - hence a lot of running back and forth.

There is also quite a bit of security. All non-advocates need visitor's passes for the High Court, and it is specified down to the exact court room and matter number at the Supreme Court. No cellphones/electronics are allowed, and at the Supreme Court, no bags or anything except papers/files are allowed in the courtrooms. There are guards at the front of every Supreme Court room, and every visitor gets a pat-down before being let into the courtroom.

I could go on and on with observations, but I'll stop there. And write more upon more visits, I'm sure.