Justice delivery in virtual mode

On virtual courts

 Justice delivery in virtual mode

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• The story: The Covid pandemic forced Indian judiciary to go digital, even for court hearings. Courts were turned into virtual spaces, and at a slower pace, justice delivery continued.
• Angry CJI: In September, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana expressed dissatisfaction at the new open court software for virtual hearings. There were problem of disconnections, resonance of voices during virtual hearings. That affects the judges' attention and ability to work.
• What are virtual courts: The e-Courts is a concept aimed at eliminating the presence of litigants or lawyers in the court and adjudication of the case online. It requires an Online environment and an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled infrastructure. In 2020, the Supreme Court (SC) exercising its plenary power under Article 142 passed directions for all courts across India to extensively use video-conferencing for judicial proceedings.

1. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) based portal ‘SUPACE’ was launched by the CJI in the judicial system aimed at assisting judges with legal research.
2. The SC released the Draft Model Rules for Live-Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings.
3. e-Courts Project - It was conceptualized on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary-2005” submitted by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India.
4. The e-Courts Mission Mode Project, is a pan-India Project, monitored and funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, for the District Courts across India.

• Benefits of virtual courts: The expansion of e-Courts will ensure easy access to justice at affordable courts to all sections of society. It will make litigation faster, given that required logistics are provided. e-Courts can make the service delivery mechanism transparent and cost-efficient, as litigants can view the status of their case online through various channels created for service delivery. Data sharing between different courts and various departments will also be made easy as everything would be available online under the integrated system. This will help improve the court processes and rendering citizen-centric services.
• Problems: Virtual Courts experience many technical interruptions during hearings owing to poor connectivity, echoes and other disruptions. Since India doesn't have equal level of digital connectivity or literacy everywhere, things turn patchy. The litigant’s lack of confidence in the process due to lack of proximity, also hurts. Cybersecurity will be a huge concern too. Challenges due to insufficient infrastructure and non-availability of electricity and internet connectivity in most of the Talukas/villages. The staff is not trained to effectively handle document or record evidence, and make them readily accessible to the litigant, to the council as well as to the court.
• Solutions: First, the data privacy and data security concerns need to be addressed while developing a new platform for India’s judicial system. Infrastructure needs to be updated with sufficient machinery and data connectivity to provide virtual proceeding. A user-friendly e-courts mechanism can be developed, which is simple and easily accessible by the common public, which will encourage litigants to use such facilities in India. Creating awareness around e-courts through talks and seminars can help bring to light the facilities and the ease that e-courts can facilitate.
• Summary: It is good that Indian courts have taken the digital leap, but they have miles to go, yet.
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the key difference between justice delivery done physically, and virtually. (2) Legal education in India happens in the physical world. Justice delivery via virtual courts is not part of that. How to reconcile? Analyse.

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