The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, will host a two–day, closed-door discussion on “Public Interest Litigation from a Comparative Perspective: Legitimacy of Judicial Lawmaking,” on March 28–29, 2026 at the University campus. The discussion is being organised in collaboration with colleagues from the universities of Tilburg and Utrecht, the Netherlands.

This discussion forms part of a broader comparative research initiative examining how courts across jurisdictions engage with questions of legitimacy in public interest litigation (PIL), particularly in cases that raise complex issues at the intersection of law, governance, and public policy. The project brings together insights from multiple jurisdictions, including India, South Africa, the United States, and the Netherlands, and seeks to better understand how courts justify and construct their authority in such cases. The closed-door meeting focusses on India as an important case study because of its distinctive experiences with PILs.

The discussion will convene a select group of judges, legal practitioners, academics, and researchers to engage in focussed discussions on these themes. Deliberations will centre on key dimensions of judicial legitimacy in PILs, including questions of access to courts, judicial reasoning and fact-finding practices, and the design and impact of remedies.

As a closed-door discussion, participation is by invitation only. The format is designed to facilitate in-depth and candid exchanges among participants, contributing to an ongoing research effort and fostering collaborative academic engagement.

The discussions are expected to inform future research outputs, including comparative scholarship and potential policy-relevant insights on judicial lawmaking in public interest cases.