The Department of Law at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), in collaboration with the Indian Council of Social Science Research - North Eastern Regional Centre (ICSSR-NERC), successfully organized a one-day workshop on the ‘Three New Criminal Laws 2023’ at the NEHU campus on Saturday.

Three new criminal laws—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) 2023 came into force to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act 1872, respectively.

In a move to reform the criminal justice system, three newly enacted laws—the BNS, BNSS, and BSA—will come into effect from July 1, 2024. These laws, introduced in Parliament during its Monsoon session in August last year, will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, respectively.

The state government has already come up with a notification for the implementation of the new criminal laws with effect from July 1.

The three new criminal laws passed by the parliament include: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), which will replace the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act 1872, respectively.

The Mizoram government is gearing up to implement three new major criminal laws with a series of initiatives, including training sessions for police personnel, church leaders, students, and NGO functionaries.