Law and Society

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In this foreword, Baxi reflects on the basic structure doctrine’s resilience and ambiguity. He situates it within constitutional imagination, judicial power, and democratic anxiety, emphasizing its contested yet enduring significance. Published in the 16 NUJS L. Rev. 4.

Abstract The article examines the Supreme Court’s handling of the “freebies” litigation through the lens of courtcraft, discretion, and judicial administration. Without commenting on the merits, it questions the legitimacy of prioritising certain disputes and probes whether “evasive jurisprudence” operates through delayed scheduling by the Chief Justice as Master of the Roster. Revisiting the 2013 Balaji judgment, the piece interrogates why reconsideration was ordered and whether enforceable judicial...

Abstract This piece is a stirring defense of "liberty" as the foundational value of the Indian Republic. Baxi critiques the increasing use of "draconian" laws like UAPA and sedition to suppress dissent. He argues that in a "contest between the state and the individual," the "presumption of innocence" and "freedom first" must be the guiding principles. The synopsis captures Baxi’s plea for the judiciary to be the "sentinel on the qui vive" against the "arrest-first-investigate-later" culture. He...

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In The Indian Express.

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Published in the Journal of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies, Vol. 10 No. 53.

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Published by HartPublishing, London,Pg 197–212.

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Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, pg 455-484.

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This essay engages with the Commission on Global Governance’s report. Baxi reflects on ideas of global community and inclusion, questioning how notions of universality coexist with exclusion, inequality, and power asymmetries in global governance discourse.

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Baxi examines how globalization reshapes rights discourse under conditions of risk and regression. He reflects on legal reforms, insecurity, and inequality, emphasizing how global economic processes can undermine rights protections while generating new sites of contestation. Published in 'Making Law Matter: Rules, Rights, and Security in the Lives of the Poor,' IDS Bulletin Vol. 32 No. 1, pg 94-102

Abstract Upendra Baxi's article, "Goodbye to Unification?: The Indian Supreme Court and the United Nations Arbitration Convention," published around 1973 in the Journal of the Indian Law Institute, critically analyzes how India's Supreme Court's rulings interacted with international arbitration conventions (likely the New York Convention), questioning if India's approach undermined global efforts for unified, pro-arbitration enforcement, setting a tone for debates on judicial interpretation versus...