Abstract:
Digitization of the judicial system, not only includes updating files and copies but also an efficient way to conduct the proceedings. One of the major benefits we can gain by going digital is reducing the pendency of surplus cases and recording age-old files. Although there are high chances of any technical glitches or files being deleted due to negligence, it can be regulated by making stringent laws for the protection of the same and appointing highly skilled people. Technology covers a wide range of topics and is one of the rapidly growing industries. It has become a part of the daily schedule and is employed in multiple professions. While law is one of the dynamic streams which requires not just human touch but also digitalization.
Employing technology in judicial proceedings [e-Courts] is a challenging task as every crucial person present in the court must be having knowledge about the technology employed and requires high ended technical service along with rigid privacy barriers. Privacy is one of the biggest concerns for courtroom proceedings because any file or video hacked can bring or raise numerous controversies especially those of national importance. This research paper focuses on different aspects of the involvement of technology in the judiciary and its impact on various other factors.
Keywords: Accountability, NPAP, E-Committees, IT Act.
Research Methodology
This research paper is written by analyzing data from various sources. The data was mainly taken from different governmental portals, while the other part of it also consists of data from various research papers and websites. The first part of the research evaluates the initiatives by interpreting their procedures and other static. The second part of the data draws an analysis of the implementation part of the project and other drawbacks. This research also dealt with a review of various case laws which involved the use of technology or AI during proceedings.
Introduction
Technology is one of those resources which is currently being used in every field and it started becoming a part of the legal world since the late 1990’s. When IT Act, of 2000 was formulated the use of technology accelerated to a greater height. Although the idea of implementing e-courts began in 2006, the actual implementation took place after the pandemic approached but few matrimonial cases were solved in 2017 using video-conferencing as a source. Covid19 pandemic raised the need for using technology as the only means to solve pending cases. But, in later stages using technology was seen to be the most efficient way to handle cases as well as to store or maintain various other files. Technology started becoming an integral part of 21st century but the pace at which it was being adopted was extremely slow.
One of the key advantages observed is that litigants will no longer be able to escape the proceedings as they can access it from any place while it also eliminates travelling expenditure and saves time. Through the help of digitalization, courts can also flexibly work for 24 hours in a day. While, it’s evident that ingraining the thought of digitalization or going virtual into every class of Indian society is a huge task and the concept of E-courts is wide in its dimension as it requires a lot of prior preparation.
Background
The E courts mission was first initiated in 2005 and is a pan-Indian program funded by dept. of justice and govt. of India for district courts across the country. This project involved multiple levels of government[1]. The project was based on “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005”[2]. This plan was entrusted to some important institutions that are Supreme Court E-committee, the National informatics Centre, the high courts computer committee, department of Justice.
The initiative was implemented in 2 main phases:
Phase1:
It begins with district and Taluka court complexes where equipment was provided for digitization and also various other parts were computerized. Especially judicial officers and district service administrators were trained. While district service administration trained the court staff. Given that they were trained in the case information service in which data was entered about all the pending cases.
Phase2:
This phase included a broad range of implementations than Phase 1. It got approval from the chief justice of India on 8th January 2014[3]. In this phase, additional infrastructure was provided. While high courts have the jurisdiction to implement the scheme. Firstly, for storing data efficiently a cloud computing architecture was provided and various other server rooms were made as network rooms. Secondly, the main judicial bodies were computerized that is a national judicial academy, state judicial academies, legal service authorities, and taluka legal services committee were the ones where training was also initiated. Thirdly, one of the most crucial steps that were commenced was connecting prisons with a desktop which will gradually help the production of under-trial prisoners and also deal with numerous sensitive cases.
Judges
Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, and Sikkim have developed dashboards or e-diaries for judges[4]. This e-diary helped them to keep a track of pending cases, given judgments, etc. while in district courts ‘JustIS mobile app’ was launched which was seen to be more helpful in case management.
Other measures
- National judicial data grid (NJDG) was launched which was one of the biggest initiatives and it was used to summarize all the cases. It was utilized more in state and district-level courts.
- Interoperable criminal justice system was introduced to make communication or flow of information easy between two institutes courts police stations, courts, and any prisons. This process assists in making the process more transparent.
- One of the most important services that were established was the National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTP). The main motive behind this initiative was to increase accountability.
The high court of Punjab and Haryana were the first to launch the virtual court at Faridabad. This e-court was commenced to deal with traffic challans and was set up under the guidance of the e-committee of the Supreme Court. While in total 21 virtual courts in 17 states or UTs have been established. It has been seen that a total of 19 high courts in India have adopted the model rules of e-filing.
While in 2019 e-committee reported that less than 1000 matters have been filed when the database of 2 courts in total was analyzed. Lastly, NSTEP has set up a process that can issue the summons, and also a judgment search portal was introduced for everyone which was free of cost. Training of judicial staff or the judges was seen as an important part. Therefore, a pilot project to train 100 judicial officers of the Delhi district court was launched[5].
Cases filed
Krishna Veni Nagam v. Harish Nagam was one of the matrimonial cases in which the case proceedings took place through live streaming but were short-lived. While in 2018, SC allowed live streaming of cases of constitutional and national importance in the case of Swapnil Tripathi v. Supreme Court of India, 2018.
Analysis:
In the early stages of covid pandemic, the Supreme Court of India exercised its power under Article 142, in which courtroom proceedings took place extensively on video conferencing. It was when SUPACE [Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency] was launched by the chief justice of India[6]. This was used to collect relevant facts and laws which were experimented on in Mumbai and Delhi High courts. After such launch, the main concern that was raised from growing AI in the field of law was that it could cause loss of employment [legal professionals] by giving additional space to AI.
Although on the other side, it was also observed that additional staff was hired for maintaining and monitoring the equipment and functioning of these devices [non-legal professionals]. While CPC’s [central project coordinators] claimed that this could lead to overburdening of existing staff. Various countries have adopted the model of e-courts and have inculcated technology into the judicial process in a well-planned manner. Given that, Azerbaijan was recognized as the best example of e-court technologies[7].
Firstly, the initial challenge is to educate people about the upcoming changes and functioning of AI. Rural areas are usually the places where the level of difficulty is much higher as the rate of internet connectivity is much less and the costs of setting up the equipment are quite expensive. While the total amount sanctioned for the digitization of courts for the year 2022 was 458.8 crores[8].
Secondly, training legal officials is one of the dynamic tasks as there are many courts with huge documents which will be computerized and handed over to legal officials. In India over 4000 court officials and 14000 Judicial officers have been trained on the computerization of the judiciary and laptops have been provided to 14,309 judicial officers[9]. But for adoption and making it a regular process is certainly going to be time-consuming.
Thirdly, the most important drawback is the lack of laws or legislation available for governing the same. India is a rapidly growing economy and the IT sector is one of the main reasons for such growth but over time there are no laws that were made to govern or supervise. IT Act, of 2000 is a regulation that has been supervised for years. Currently, with the up gradation of the judiciary and the process of conducting court proceedings, there is an extreme need for making stringent laws and regulations. Especially laws are to be made for the proceedings which require extreme privacy or are of national importance
Fourthly, who would be held accountable for any loss of files or any legal documents stored, and ‘what would be the evidence’ or ‘how can evidence be proved’? Accountability is one of the main aspects that must be focused on as there are many institutions involved in one particular proceeding. In State of UP v. Abhay Raj Singh if any court records go missing and re-construction is not possible then courts are bound to set aside the conviction.
Conclusion
The most important factor to be understood is that courtroom proceedings are not the same as videoconferencing. The judgments or the statements that are given in the courtroom are of extreme importance and most of them act as an example for future cases. Digitalization is a huge process that requires enormous preparation. Certainly, one of the greatest advantages that the Indian economy will be having through this evolution is that there will be an immense reduction in a plethora of cases.
AUTHOR:
R.Shrinika ,
Mahindra University School of law
[1] [Live.Law],[ https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/digital-courts-e-courts-project-supreme-court-e-committee-
391425.pdf] [(last visited Apr 14th,2023)].
[2] [E-Committee,Supreme court of India],[ https://ecommitteesci.gov.in/project/brief-overview-of-e-courts-
project/#:~:text=ecourts.gov.in%20%3A,in%20of%20the%20eCourts%20Project.][(Last visited Apr 13,2023)].
[3] Id.
[4] [Live Law], supra note1.
[5] [E-committee, Supreme Court of India],[ https://main.sci.gov.in/pdf/ecommittee/action-plan-ecourt.pdf][(Last
visited on Apr 14, 2023].
[6] [Webcast],[ https://webcast.gov.in/events/MTI1MQ–] [( Last visited on Apr 13, 2023)].
[7] [World Bank][ https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2021/06/18/azerbaijan-e-courts-and-the-digitization-of-justice][( Last visited on Apr12,2023)].
[8][Ministry of Law and Justice],[ https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1896034][(Last visited on 14 April,2023)].
[9][Ministry of Law and Justice],[ https://lawmin.gov.in/sites/default/files/2year-achi.pdf][(Last visited on 13 Apr,2023)].