Introduction
Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the Indian legal system. It has shone a bright light on the archaic ways in which justice is administered, law is taught, and legal services are provided. Coronavirus has tapped into the promise of underutilized tools and new work patterns that the Indian legal business has long rejected. Traditional working methods have been radically revised and embraced with remarkable speed and simplicity. Law schools switched to online learning in a couple of days, courts switched to the Virtual Courts System, and law firms continued to operate from home, demonstrating that technology is a lifeline for the Indian legal environment.
The abrupt and unexpected emergence of the COVID-19 situation appears to have generated a stronger impetus for a speedy overhaul in the country’s judicial administration. Since personal appearances by attorneys and litigants were prohibited in courts as a result of the COVID-19 crises’ tight safety regulations, increasing use of technology, which had previously been put in place, became useful in justice and court administration. The COVID-19 situation, on the other hand, has thrown up new problems in the country’s justice and court administration, especially those confronting the courts in the aftermath of the lockdown.
In addition to causing havoc in other sectors, the COVID-19 issue had a significant influence on the regular running of justice administration in India, as well as in other nations, and threw a wrench in the works for courts. The COVID-19 problem reverberated not just in the Supreme Court and high courts across the country, but also at the lowest levels of justice administration, including all district and subordinate courts. In basic terms, different court rulings made from time to time by competent judicial bodies can be used to determine the type and scope of influence the COVID-19 crisis had on the running of Indian courts.
How have the courts adapted
Taking the Supreme Court as an example, a variety of measures were implemented at that level to safeguard the safety of attorneys, litigants, and the general public. The Supreme Court had begun taking the appropriate preparations to mitigate the potential of the COVID-19 problem early on. For example, the Supreme Court issued a notification in March 2020 directing that the Courts’ operations be limited to urgent issues beginning on March 16, 2020, with the proper number of Benches. Furthermore, no one other than the attorneys who were going to act in the case, i.e., for argument, making oral submissions, or assisting one party alone, was to be allowed.
In light of the pandemic and to prevent the spread of this virulent virus, many criminal Courts in India have granted interim bail to under trials due to congested prisons. Whereas, in child custody and visitation rights cases the Indian Courts have advised that parents substitute physical visits with electronic contact.
However, keeping in mind the difficulties due to this pandemic, the Supreme Court of India has extended statutory timelines in all proceedings including filing of pleadings, irrespective of the limitation period prescribed in general or Special Laws whether condonable or not till further orders. This directive of the Supreme Court of India providing extensions in the limitation periods is applicable to all Courts and Tribunals in India.
Court virtual hearings are growing increasingly widespread by the day as a result of these techniques. In the pre-COVID-19 crisis era, virtual hearings were typically employed in criminal trials where the accused could not be physically brought before the court for security concerns. Due to the tight COVID-19 crisis safety measures, however, courts have begun to hear even routine cases by video-conferencing.
It’s no surprise that amid the COVID-19 crisis, E-judiciary is being praised as a safer method of justice administration, with increased efforts being made to ensure its speedy universalization across the country. However, the relocation is posing a number of issues that must be resolved as soon as possible in order to minimise undue hardship for attorneys and litigants during this period of fast transformation. Official data, for example, reveals that while the number of new cases filed in both the higher and lower courts has decreased since the countrywide lockdown began on March 25, 2020, the disposal rate has been adversely impacted owing to the forced closure of courts. In faraway rural areas or remote towns where there is no internet connectivity whatsoever, the lawyers are unable to contest and the litigants are suffering with the COVID-19 crisis situation to blame.
The worldwide COVID-19 crisis required a quick, swift, and unprecedented adjustment in the method of court administration at all levels of the judiciary, as seen in India, notably in the time after the lockdown. A transition from E-Courts to E-Judiciary, in the form of virtual hearings, has been key to this. It’s impossible to say if this will become a permanent “new normal” in the country’s judicial administration system in the future, given the circumstances. Nonetheless, as the dust settles from the present COVID-19 dispute, this is an essential component that will be the topic of future quantitative legal research.
AI in Indian Judiciary during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used more extensively in the legal system. For example, in December 2019, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) recommended introducing an artificial intelligence (AI) system, which is intended to strengthen the country’s judicial system while also assisting in improved administration and delivery of judgments.
During the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, AI is beginning to transform the Legal Profession in several ways, but in most cases, it supports enormously what humans do and frees them up to deal with higher-level tasks. The legal industry has, slowly but surely begun embracing modern technology. According to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) report of 2020, only about 7% of respondents reported that their firms use AI tech tools. Meanwhile, 23% of the respondents were not interested in purchasing AI-based tools and 34% didn’t possess enough knowledge to answer regarding their plans to use AI in their firms.
After the advent of AI in the legal sector, it has immensely improved the efficiency of lawyers, trademark search software, legal analysis, legal research, contract drafting, and much more. However, none of the AI-based technology aims to take over a lawyer’s job and all the AI-based software or programs are increasing the efficiency and authenticity. A major part of the legal sector contains analysis, judgment/decision making, representation, cognitive tasks which cannot be automated. Machine learning can replace humans only in algorithm/repetition-based work, working alongside human cognitive ability/achieving ‘singularity’ will not be possible until the late 2050s. According to a report by Deloitte, 39% of legal jobs can be automated, however, these include time-consuming legal tasks. AI can replace up to 23% of lawyers’ daily life responsibilities.
During coronavirus, Indian judiciary has already started the application of AI in the courts for faster and easier disposal of cases. SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency), is designed to collect relevant facts and laws for the judges according to their needs; it is not designed to take decisions on behalf of them, similarly, SUVAS (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software) is an AI system that can assist in the translation of judgments into regional languages. IIT Kharagpur researches in 2020 had developed software which could tell which laws are being violated, it would help common man profusely in taking a particular situation to the court and also reduce redundant pendency of the judiciary.
Conclusion
The current pandemic condition is difficult to forecast. It’s impossible to determine how long the social isolation orders and movement limitations will last. These precautionary measures are expected to last for a long time, even after the current crisis has passed.
The current situation is likely to accelerate the reform of India’s legal system. Covid-19 is expected to usher law into the digital age and reorganise its environment. The court direction to implement the Virtual Court System in order to make the justice delivery system more accessible to everyone is a positive step forward. In doing so, Indian courts have upheld the Indian legal system’s central principle: justice must not only be done, but also perceived to be done.
The challenges of these tough times should be used to improve and restructure the Indian legal system’s operational processes in order to reduce the impacts of the Covid-19 epidemic as soon as possible. That is to say, while a speedy shift is necessary, it will ultimately depend on the individual capacity of the stakeholders to adjust and adopt to this dynamic environment.
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AmericanBarAssociation (2020) Tech Report 2020
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/publications/techreport/2020/
Cem Dilmegani (2021, October 8) When will Singularity Happen
https://research.aimultiple.com/artificial-general-intelligence-singularity-timing/
Jarrod Haggerty (n.d) The Case for Disruptive Technology in the Legal Profession
https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/financial-advisory/articles/the-case-for-disruptive-technology-in-the-legal-profession.html
James Yoon (2017, March 19) AI is doing Legal Work but It won’t replace Lawyers Yet. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/technology/lawyers-artificial-intelligence.html
~Dev Shroff (GNLU 2021-2026)