E-Judiciary: Where justice and technology meet

Synopsis

This piece will take a look at the modern approach that emerged in the field of the judiciary, which is technology infused processes in the day to day activities of the judiciary. Technology is the major drive force in various industries and fields looking into the effects and efficacy of tech in the legal field, in particular, the judiciary also holds importance. This article aims at providing information regarding the inclusion of tech, the transition of tech in the judiciary, the challenges faced in implementing, and the role of E-Judiciary in this pandemic.

Introduction

Judiciary holds the responsibility of interpreting the laws passed by the legislature and settling the disputes thereby also rendering justice to the people of the country. Indian judiciary traces its history from the pre-independence era and since then the judiciary has undergone many changes to stand what it is today. The processes implemented in exercising the responsibilities have been transitioning.

The structure of the judiciary in India is pyramidal with Supreme Court being at the top, followed by High Courts, District Courts, and other subordinate courts.

History of technology in Judiciary

The process of basic computerization of some of its processes had begun in 1990. The Chief Justice of India proposed to the Central Government in 2004 to assist him in formulating a National Policy on computerization of Indian Judiciary by forming an E-committee. Based on the reports of the committee an infrastructure of Information and Communication Technology (ITC) was formed with printers, scanners, servers, hubs, etc.

Structure and need

Indian judiciary comprises nearly 15,000 courts throughout the country. The burden on these courts to dispose of the cases can be eased by utilizing the potentiality of the technology thereby simplifying some processes of disposing of the cases. The mounting burden of cases on courts, calls for the need of reducing the period of disposal of cases with greater efficiency. The judges in the process act not only as upholders of justice but also as effective administrators in their respective courts. If there exists some kind of lacunae in the administrative capability and in tackling the cases in a limited period, it would hamper the justice rendering system and effectively collapse many other responsibilities of the court. Considering these points E-Judiciary holds paramount importance in serving justice to the people of India.

The technological innovations in every field have revolutionized the outcomes of the industries and it has become an integral part of everyone's daily life. It has enhanced efficiency, reliability, productivity in every field thus encouraging the need to look into the effects of technology use in the Judiciary.

A scenario can be depicted where both the litigants and the defendants have all the necessary documents registered and verified with the help of an existing online portal whereby even a judge gets the necessary copies of verified documents accessible through a portal. This way the court can constructively complete the process of examination within a limited period.

In many scenarios like these, the main objective is to digitally help the flow of necessary documents for the court proceedings in a safer environment through encryption of the documents.

Technological And Training Aspect

To make these processes simpler, easier, and secure the technological administration of the things must be dealt with, carefully, and tailored to the needs of the court. There are many aspects which set apart the court in terms of its tech requirements. As Indian courts handle an enormous amount of cases, a huge amount of data of these cases flows digitally which necessitates the provision of privacy, security, and effective encryption of the documents which needs to reach the hands of people involved in handling the case and none others. Security and privacy hold great importance in such situations thus the companies handling the data of the courts have the onus of protecting the data from getting breached. Digital signatures, cookie and cache management, proper maintenance of servers are amongst many other things necessary for smooth transitioning of process.

The training aspect in E-Judiciary is also necessary to look into because technological accessibility requires some basic skills and both the administrators and beneficiaries in the legal process need to be fairly equipped to utilize the advantages of technology.

Initial steps towards implementation

Apart from the history of computerization in the judiciary, it is necessary to look into the evident measures taken to bring into force the tech drive in the judiciary.

CJI Lahoti, the then CJI of India, and the Prime Minister had a meeting to set up a committee. Further multiple steps were taken to identify, procure, and set up the things accordingly as suggested by the committee headed by Justice Dr. G.C. Bhukara.

The software development task was handed over to the National Informatics Centre.

 A National Judicial Data Grid was created for warehousing all the critical data concerning the functioning of the Indian courts.

 Through web technology operating through intra-net in a fully secured digital environment with authorized user facilities, it would have user connectivity with all courts, Judge and court staff.

This Data Center would be used for feeding the pendency, filings, stages, disposals, and nature and age of cases for devising policies pertinent for carrying out the delay reduction programs of the system.

Tools to prepare judgment: The preparation of judgment is the job of a judge when the parties or their respective advocates complete their job. This judge has to rely on several things.

Legal Tools

Under the e-court project, access to online journals like that of All India report, Supreme Court Cases is provided. The judgments from 1950 till date are available online.

Language Tools

India is a country of diversity. The regional language plays a prominent role. The preparation of judgments, reference to documents, and recording of evidence many a time requires reference to the local or regional languages. To facilitate, the courts have this working system the language tools are used. This has rendered the work of the judiciary to be more efficient and people-friendly.

Video Conferencing and Judicial Administration

The Covid-19 situation forced the courts to take up the method of conducting trials through video conference. The brick and mortar, physical presence, and discussions across the table had to be replaced with video conferencing.

Judiciary during Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic forced many things to change and the judiciary was also one among them that had to switch from the conventional of physical hearings to online hearings.

Meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype was used to address the cases.

Physical hearings posed a greater threat during these days and hence required online hearings.

Apart from these, many controversies erupted regarding the usage of various online tools to conduct hearings, many RTIs were filed seeking information regarding the security of hearings held online, and many petitions were filed for and against resuming the physical hearings post unlock period.

However, after a period of five months, on August 31, the apex court notified an SOP for resuming a physical hearing, initially in three courtrooms. However, to date, this has not taken place.

Few HCs started live streaming of a few cases on YouTube for the general public to access it and hence know the operation of courts during the pandemic.

Conclusion

Technology has and will always play an important role in delivering justice through courts and the onus to maintain and utilize the tech involved in judiciary lies on both sides. With major innovations expected through Artificial Intelligence in the legal field, it holds curiosity as to its aftereffect in this field. Delivering justice through tech which nobody could have imagined a couple of decades ago is now existent thus effective use of the existent and the tech to come in the future needs to well-read, analyzed, and implemented through the various administrations involved in this process.  

Synopsis

This piece will take a look at the modern approach that emerged in the field of the judiciary, which is technology infused processes in the day to day activities of the judiciary. Technology is the major drive force in various industries and fields looking into the effects and efficacy of tech in the legal field, in particular, the judiciary also holds importance. This article aims at providing information regarding the inclusion of tech, the transition of tech in the judiciary, the challenges faced in implementing, and the role of E-Judiciary in this pandemic.

Introduction

Judiciary holds the responsibility of interpreting the laws passed by the legislature and settling the disputes thereby also rendering justice to the people of the country. Indian judiciary traces its history from the pre-independence era and since then the judiciary has undergone many changes to stand what it is today. The processes implemented in exercising the responsibilities have been transitioning.

The structure of the judiciary in India is pyramidal with Supreme Court being at the top, followed by High Courts, District Courts, and other subordinate courts.

History of technology in Judiciary

The process of basic computerization of some of its processes had begun in 1990. The Chief Justice of India proposed to the Central Government in 2004 to assist him in formulating a National Policy on computerization of Indian Judiciary by forming an E-committee. Based on the reports of the committee an infrastructure of Information and Communication Technology (ITC) was formed with printers, scanners, servers, hubs, etc.

Structure and need

Indian judiciary comprises nearly 15,000 courts throughout the country. The burden on these courts to dispose of the cases can be eased by utilizing the potentiality of the technology thereby simplifying some processes of disposing of the cases. The mounting burden of cases on courts, calls for the need of reducing the period of disposal of cases with greater efficiency. The judges in the process act not only as upholders of justice but also as effective administrators in their respective courts. If there exists some kind of lacunae in the administrative capability and in tackling the cases in a limited period, it would hamper the justice rendering system and effectively collapse many other responsibilities of the court. Considering these points E-Judiciary holds paramount importance in serving justice to the people of India.

The technological innovations in every field have revolutionized the outcomes of the industries and it has become an integral part of everyone's daily life. It has enhanced efficiency, reliability, productivity in every field thus encouraging the need to look into the effects of technology use in the Judiciary.

A scenario can be depicted where both the litigants and the defendants have all the necessary documents registered and verified with the help of an existing online portal whereby even a judge gets the necessary copies of verified documents accessible through a portal. This way the court can constructively complete the process of examination within a limited period.

In many scenarios like these, the main objective is to digitally help the flow of necessary documents for the court proceedings in a safer environment through encryption of the documents.

Technological And Training Aspect

To make these processes simpler, easier, and secure the technological administration of the things must be dealt with, carefully, and tailored to the needs of the court. There are many aspects which set apart the court in terms of its tech requirements. As Indian courts handle an enormous amount of cases, a huge amount of data of these cases flows digitally which necessitates the provision of privacy, security, and effective encryption of the documents which needs to reach the hands of people involved in handling the case and none others. Security and privacy hold great importance in such situations thus the companies handling the data of the courts have the onus of protecting the data from getting breached. Digital signatures, cookie and cache management, proper maintenance of servers are amongst many other things necessary for smooth transitioning of process.

The training aspect in E-Judiciary is also necessary to look into because technological accessibility requires some basic skills and both the administrators and beneficiaries in the legal process need to be fairly equipped to utilize the advantages of technology.

Initial steps towards implementation

Apart from the history of computerization in the judiciary, it is necessary to look into the evident measures taken to bring into force the tech drive in the judiciary.

CJI Lahoti, the then CJI of India, and the Prime Minister had a meeting to set up a committee. Further multiple steps were taken to identify, procure, and set up the things accordingly as suggested by the committee headed by Justice Dr. G.C. Bhukara.

The software development task was handed over to the National Informatics Centre.

 A National Judicial Data Grid was created for warehousing all the critical data concerning the functioning of the Indian courts.

 Through web technology operating through intra-net in a fully secured digital environment with authorized user facilities, it would have user connectivity with all courts, Judge and court staff.

This Data Center would be used for feeding the pendency, filings, stages, disposals, and nature and age of cases for devising policies pertinent for carrying out the delay reduction programs of the system.

Tools to prepare judgment: The preparation of judgment is the job of a judge when the parties or their respective advocates complete their job. This judge has to rely on several things.

Legal Tools

Under the e-court project, access to online journals like that of All India report, Supreme Court Cases is provided. The judgments from 1950 till date are available online.

Language Tools

India is a country of diversity. The regional language plays a prominent role. The preparation of judgments, reference to documents, and recording of evidence many a time requires reference to the local or regional languages. To facilitate, the courts have this working system the language tools are used. This has rendered the work of the judiciary to be more efficient and people-friendly.

Video Conferencing and Judicial Administration

The Covid-19 situation forced the courts to take up the method of conducting trials through video conference. The brick and mortar, physical presence, and discussions across the table had to be replaced with video conferencing.

Judiciary during Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic forced many things to change and the judiciary was also one among them that had to switch from the conventional of physical hearings to online hearings.

Meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype was used to address the cases.

Physical hearings posed a greater threat during these days and hence required online hearings.

Apart from these, many controversies erupted regarding the usage of various online tools to conduct hearings, many RTIs were filed seeking information regarding the security of hearings held online, and many petitions were filed for and against resuming the physical hearings post unlock period.

However, after a period of five months, on August 31, the apex court notified an SOP for resuming a physical hearing, initially in three courtrooms. However, to date, this has not taken place.

Few HCs started live streaming of a few cases on YouTube for the general public to access it and hence know the operation of courts during the pandemic.

Conclusion

Technology has and will always play an important role in delivering justice through courts and the onus to maintain and utilize the tech involved in judiciary lies on both sides. With major innovations expected through Artificial Intelligence in the legal field, it holds curiosity as to its aftereffect in this field. Delivering justice through tech which nobody could have imagined a couple of decades ago is now existent thus effective use of the existent and the tech to come in the future needs to well-read, analyzed, and implemented through the various administrations involved in this process.