Special Court
Also called: Designated Court, Special Judge · Topic: Justice Delivery: Subordinate Courts, Tribunals, Legal Aid and Judicial Reforms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A Special Court is a regular criminal court that a special law sets aside to try only certain offences. Its judge is called a Designated Judge or Special Judge. Anti-terror laws like the UAPA use this system, and so do cases investigated by the NIA. The constitutional basis is Article 247, which lets Parliament set up additional courts for laws it makes. The aim is a faster and more focused trial, because one judge deals with all such cases. In practice, there are too few of these courts and too many cases, so trials can still take years.
Example
In November 2026, a Special Judge designated under the UAPA at Sopore, Baramulla, acquitted two young men from north Kashmir. They had been booked in 2020 under the UAPA and the Arms Act. The court said "suspicion, however grave, cannot substitute proof". The trial took six years, which shows that a special court does not always mean a quick trial.
Don't confuse with
- Tribunal: a quasi-judicial body, meaning it decides disputes like a court but does not follow the full court rulebook. It is not bound by the CPC or strict rules of evidence, and it can have technical (non-judge) members. A Special Court is a real court run by a judicial officer, and it follows the full criminal procedure.
- Fast-track court: a court set up to clear a backlog quickly, such as the Fast Track Special Courts for rape and POCSO cases started in 2019. A Special Court is defined by the law it tries cases under, not by a target for speed.