Use of Technology in Judiciary
Judiciary’s Pandemic Response Activities:
- Following the epidemic, courts started making serious use of tools like e-filing.
- The Supreme Court unveiled another innovation in May 2020: a new electronic filing and automated referencing system.
- This was intended to signify increased effectiveness, openness, and user accessibility to court delivery services.
- The judiciary’s efforts to combat the pandemic-caused catastrophe go beyond a single action. Additionally, it aims to use technology to combat and eradicate the enduring problems that have plagued the judiciary for a very long time.
- These include the significant backlog of cases and the unacceptably high number of open judicial positions nationwide.
- To address the judiciary’s lack of digital access, the most recent Vision Document for Phase III of the e-Courts Project has been released.
- It highlights the impact that the epidemic has had on India’s judicial timeline and thinking and envisions a judicial infrastructure that is “natively digital.”
Issues With the Digital Judiciary Solution:
- Not an All-Cure: Technology tools have the power to completely change the game when used with proper data-based planning and protections.
- Technology must be correctly assessed to determine whether it contributes to the growing power disparity between citizens and the state or whether it supports and advances citizens’ rights because technology is not per se value-neutral, that is, it is not immune to biases.
- upkeep of online courts Record: The paralegal staff lacks the necessary tools and training to manage documents or records that include evidence and make them easily accessible to the litigant, the council, and the court.
- Hacking and online safety: Cybersecurity will be a significant worry in addition to technology. The government has developed the Cyber Security Strategy and started taking corrective action to deal with this issue. The problem still lies in the practical and effective application of the same.
- Online hearings are difficult for attorneys in semi-urban and rural districts, largely because of connectivity problems and a lack of experience with this method of operation.
- Other problems could be the litigant’s lack of trust in the legal system as a result of distance.
- It is important to remember that change will always be met with resistance from all parties involved, whether for the better or worse.
Steps to Take:
- Regular Performance Audits: In order to thoroughly comprehend and assess the potential and dangers, performance audits and sandboxing measures (isolated test environment) must be used.
- Each court requires a thorough cleaning, and outreach to all litigants needs to be done in a way that is affordable, practical, and effective.
- Rational Approach Based on Evidence: The next course of action should be based on rational reasoning.
- For instance, we need to investigate and comprehend why video conferencing in criminal cases hasn’t resulted in shorter trials or fewer persons waiting to be tried.
- Address Uneven Digital Access: Despite the widespread ownership and use of mobile phones, only urban users have access to the Internet.
- Filling Vacancies: Just as chatbots cannot replace doctors, neither can technology, no matter how sophisticated, replace judges, of whom there is still a severe shortage.
- According to the India Justice Report 2020, there were 38% vacancies in the High Court for the 2018–19 term and 22% in the lower courts.
- As of August 2021, more than four out of every ten positions for High Court judges remained unfilled.
- Infrastructure Shortcoming: The open court rule is essential to the administration of justice. The issue of public access must be taken seriously and cannot be put on the back burner.
- Too often, access to online hearings has been restricted due to a lack of technical capacity.
Conclusion:
- Perhaps now is the right time to implement significant adjustments that will revitalise India’s ageing justice delivery system.
- However, relying too much on technology won’t solve every problem afflicting the courts and, if done carelessly, could backfire.
