The 23rd Law Commission of India is organizing a National Conference on 'Co-operative Federalism and Law Reforms: National and State Perspectives' on October 22, 2026, at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The conference will be inaugurated by Vice-President of India Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan in the presence of Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal. The event will bring together representatives of State Law Commissions, eminent jurists, former judges, legal scholars, policymakers, and members of the Bar and academia from across the country.
The conference aims to deliberate on contemporary issues relating to law reforms, co-operative federalism, constitutional governance, and institutional frameworks for effective administration of justice. It seeks to strengthen coordination among States and institutions engaged in law reform while respecting State autonomy and ensuring reforms remain responsive to both national and regional requirements. The theme draws from India's constitutional distribution of law-making powers across the Union, State, and Concurrent Lists in the Seventh Schedule.
The conference will feature two technical sessions. The first session, 'Reforms in Law: Needs and Methods', will examine the need for continuous review and reform of laws in response to social, economic, and technological change, including justice-oriented legal reform, adaptive legislation, periodic statutory review, and research-led law reform. The second session, 'Allocated Powers, Shared Goals: Drafting the Future with Collaborative Jurisprudence', will examine law reform within a system of divided legislative powers, including avenues for greater consultation and coordination between national and State institutions.
The senior leadership of the 23rd Law Commission of India—Chairperson Justice (Retd.) Dinesh Maheshwari, Member Prof. D.P. Verma, and Member Secretary Dr. Anju Rathi Rana—will be present at the conference. The event is intended to provide a forum for National and State experiences to inform a more coordinated approach to law reform and identify areas for sustained consultation and cooperation to improve the process and implementation of legal reforms.