BRIDGING INNOVATION AND JUSTICE: THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS ON LEGAL SYSTEMS BY - KARRI MOULENDRA SATYA VENKAT

"BRIDGING INNOVATION AND JUSTICE: THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS ON LEGAL SYSTEMS"
 
AUTHORED BY - KARRI MOULENDRA SATYA VENKAT
(LL.M. Student at Symbiosis Law School- Hyderabad)
 
 

Abstract: -

The main purpose of writing this article is to conduct research and get to know about the status of the legal system and judiciary and how well it is adapting technology in its day-to-day activities and procedures in India, in the present-day scenario, technology is enhancing rapidly, and being used in all the professions and businesses by getting up-dated with the rising innovation and technology, although, legal profession and judiciary are contrary to other departments, with the upgrading societal changes, even the legal system, and judiciary has also started adapting the technology in its daily procedures for easing the duty of the department or state as well as to the general public.
 
 This article will be consisting a brief introduction to how the legal and judicial system in India works, how well the technology is useful in the present-day generation, how it is being adapted, and different ways in which the technology is being used in the legal department, how efficiently it is being used in the courts, in what areas of legal work is the technological tools are being used, effects of technology on Indian legal system, merits i.e., how helpful it is to the state as well as to the public, demerits i.e., how is this technology affects the public adversely, what will be the challenges in adapting these technological advancements in the legal system and how to deal with such challenges to run the system more efficiently, effectively with due accountability and transparency to render justice to the people as per the constitution of India.
 
Keywords: - Technological adaption, Indian legal system, Legal system modernization, merits and demerits.
 
 
Research Questions:
1.      What is the current structure of the Indian Legal and Judicial system, and how has been technology integrated into this system?
2.      What is the impact of technology in improving efficiency, accessibility, and transparency in the legal profession and judiciary in India?
3.      What are the challenges that are faced and were being faced by the Indian legal system in adapting to the technological advancements?
 
Research Objectives:
1.      To study the evolution of the Indian legal and judiciary system in India and to analyse its level of technological adaption in day-to-day operations.
2.      To evaluate the merits and demerits of using technology in the Indian Legal System from the point of view of efficiency, accountability, and transparency.
3.      To identify the challenges and suggest some reasonable recommendations for improving the process of integration of technology in the Indian Legal system to enhance the system of Justice Administration.
 
Research Methodology:
The research method used in writing this paper is the Doctrinal Method i.e., secondary data was collected from different commentaries, books, research papers, and websites and was used in doing research and writing this paper, along with the data case laws were also referred to present the data in a much more understandable way and this also helps readers in understanding the concept by comparing with the present scenarios and status.
 
Hypothesis:
Though technological advancements help in improving procedures of the Indian Judiciary, there also do exist challenges in adapting to those advancements and making use of those tools like lack of digital literacy, poor infrastructure in courts and economic disparities limit along with other important reasons i.e., excluding marginalized groups of people from accessing these benefits.
 
Literature Review:
The work of Archana Kumari and Vandana Kumari ‘Digitalization of Courts in India: A Critical Appraisal’ which was published in the International Journal of Legal Science and Innovation in 2020 discusses the digitalisation of Indian courts by emphasizing its benefits like reduced case backlogs etc. The work of Ratnesh Kumar Tiwari, and Aman Singh, ‘Digitalization: The New Era of Indian Judiciary’ part of ResearchGate Publication of 2020 explored how technology addresses the issue of delays in administering justice. In ‘E-Courts and Digital Platforms: A Path to Accessible Justice’ of NUJS Law Review of 2022, Akhil R. Kaler highlighted the role of digital platforms like e-courts in improving access to justice in India to the common man. ‘Digital Courts: Future of the Indian Legal System’ of LexisNexis Blogs of 2023 discusses the future of Indian courts with other digital innovations with the help of AI and Virtual hearings etc. The work of Shubham Kumar Nigam et al.’s work ‘AI in Indian Legal System: Challenges and Opportunities’ of 2023 evaluated different AI models by focusing on Indian criminal law and natural language challenges. Sudipto Ghosh et al.’s work ‘Large Language Models for Legal Text Analytics in India’ of 2024 analysed the use of AI for analytics of legal texts and to get assistance in legal research programmes in the Indian Judiciary.
 
Introduction
 This research is all about the different advancements in technology, Indian legal and judicial systems, and how well the legal systems and departments in India adapting the technology in their day-to-day activities and functions. To answer the above-mentioned research questions firstly, we need to know about the use of technology, the Indian legal and judicial system, different ways and platforms in which the technology is being used in the present-day legal systems, its merits and demerits, along with the challenges to be and being faced by the public and the government in implementing and adapting the technology in the Indian legal and judicial system.
 
The legal system in India is one of the oldest forms of administering Law and Justice to the people and with the transforming society, the government and the law-administering bodies must also act dynamically and adapt to the changes like technological progress to bring out the output in much more effective and efficient manner.
 
 
 
 
Indian Legal and Judicial System[1]
The laws and policies of India are so old-schooled dating back centuries but do evolve with changing times just like the way of life people live. There is a wrong assumption that our present judicial system developed and was shaped during British rule. But it is not so true because India has a tradition of following the laws that were inspired by some of the components of Righteousness i.e., what to be done and what not to be done is the ultimate rule and supreme in nature such that it would apply even to the king.
 
The main components that play a major role in the Indian Legal System through which justice is administered to the subjects of the nation are as follows:
·         Constitution[2]: This is the supreme law of the nation which was adopted in the year 1950 and consists of the provisions among which many are adapted and are made by inspiring from other nations’ constitutions and thus provides the structure for the government’s functioning,  the list of basic rights and fundamental duties available to the citizens, and also governs how different organs like legislature, executive, and judiciary should work and also provides all the necessary provisions related to the emergency provisions, elections, etc.
·         Rule of Law: This principle says that all must comply with the laws and all are below the law, which also says that rule is rule and rule for all without any exceptions.
·         Federal structure: This is a system in which the powers are divided between different levels of the government like central and state, they can make laws in their respective scope of departments and portfolios. For example, the Law Department comes under the purview of the Central Government and only it can enact new laws and bring in changes regarding the legal system.
·         Advocacy: It is practised in India by registered lawyers who have to abide by the regulations and laws made by the Bar Council of India which not only governs the legal practitioners but also sets standards for legal education in the country.
·         Criminal and Civil Cases: Laws in India are categorized into criminal and civil laws, which consist of several legislations that are uniform to all the citizens and there are some personal laws too. Criminal law deals with offences against the state. Whereas, civil law deals with disputes of individuals.
The main functions of the Judiciary in India[3] with a Three-tier judiciary i.e., 3 levels of courts are the Supreme Court at the top which is at the national level, whose decisions are binding on all other courts; the High Courts at the state level which are located in all or some of the states whose decisions are binding in all the subordinate courts but not overriding the decisions of the Supreme Court; the District and other subordinate courts which are located in the District level as well as in the Mandal or Taluk level which is considered as lower courts, are as follows:
·         Administration of justice: The basic function of the judiciary is to deploy the provisions of the legislation to the cases that are being dealt with by them and to decide the appropriate and applicable law and give a verdict or decision based on the facts and shreds of evidence presented by the contestants in the form of imposing a penalty on the guilty person or punishing the wrong-doer.
·         Creation of judge-case law: In some cases, judges won’t be able to find the appropriate provision of law for application, and in such circumstances, the judges decide the appropriate provisions based on their wisdom and common sense, and such decisions taken or laws made therein by the judges are called as the ‘judge-made law or case law’, and these laws are binding on later judges and courts in similar cases.
·         Guardian of the Constitution: The Higher courts act as the guardians to protect the Constitution and take care of the violated rights of the citizens and administer justice by protecting their rights which are violated, not only in the cases of violation of rights but also when any new law made by the government is unconstitutional, the judiciary will be having the power to declare such laws as unconstitutional.
 
There are certain other functions of the judiciary like, supervisory to subordinate courts, advisory to the Governments, administrative functions, judicial inquiries, etc.
 
The hierarchy of Indian courts and their structures of different courts like civil, criminal, special, tribunals, etc. These courts follow different types of jurisdictions, for civil cases there are four different types of jurisdictions. Though there are many types of jurisdictions and courts, due to a lack of enough courts and judicial officers, the Indian judiciary is facing a problem of pendency of cases.
 
Adaption Of Technological Advancements
Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes or applications either in a particular field of industry or in our day-to-day activities and functions. With the help of technology, the tasks and processes to be done can be achieved easily and quickly because of less manual work and errors and it also avails improved communications by removing geographic barriers and thus supports global collaboration, with the use of technology it will reduce the costs to be incurred and also saves the time with the utilization of the greater innovations which increases the convenience and helps in making the better decision-making, there would be no greater disadvantages in utilizing the technology in a bona-fide manner rather than using it adversely, just like any other thing even technology will also be having advantages and disadvantages but it depends on the way of utilization of technology.
 
In the past 20 years, we have seen a significant transformation with the digitalization of all the applications that used to be done manually. Advancements in technology have brought changes in all sectors like banking, healthcare, etc, which changed the way of life. In this context, we can say that the judiciary is not an exception.
 
In today’s rapidly changing world, technology has become a requisite and essential to us, and also to the Judicial Department. At present, we are in the 21st century, and in the earlier days, we knew that there was a conventional image of a lawyer dealing with lots and lots of documents and files. But now, emerging legal technology is reorganizing and transforming the legal profession. Legal technology also called law tech, is playing and going to play a much wider and major role in today’s Judicial system.
 
This deals with the help of different technologies, we can enhance and improve the efficiency, accessibility, and effectiveness of legal services. Major functions for which legal technology is being used widely are:
·         Access to Justice
·         E-Discovery
·         Contract Management
·         Document Automation
·         Case Management
·         Legal Analytics
·         Legal Research
·         Online Dispute Resolution
 
Such other emerging technologies being used in the present-day Legal System:
§  Digitalization of court proceedings[4]: This helps in minimizing manual work and improving attainability and also facilitates proper management of cases by enhancing transparency and the pace of the judicial processes. e-courts project is one of the examples of digitalizing court proceedings.
§  Use of Artificial Intelligence[5] : The Indian judiciary is taking the help of Artificial intelligence to examine vast amounts of data and predict outcomes. Several Judicial Officers have recognized the need for AI tools. Thus, introduced in the justice administration system to enhance efficiency in quantity and quality.
§  E-filing of Cases[6]: This initiative helps in making the process of filing cases easier, and more efficacious, and also helps in improving data precision and eliminating manual filings.
§  Video conferencing for Hearings: This helps in conducting the hearings remotely, and making it easier for both litigants and lawyers. Money, time, and travel burdens can be saved. During the Pandemic, the Indian Judiciary also started using it.
§  Blockchain for Secure Record-Keeping[7]: This technology helps ensure the security and transparency of court records and also prevents tampering, maintains the integrity of data, and allows only authorized persons to access the court records.
§  E-SCR[8]: This means Electronic Supreme Court Reports which refers to the digital version of the pronouncements of the Supreme Court of India, and allows the advocates and other public to search about a case and go through the judgments.
§  E-Courts[9]: This initiative is aimed at digitalizing the legal system and providing online services efficiently and transparently. It integrates with a centralized database called the National Judicial Data Grid (NJGD). This initiative is a part of the implementation of Information and Communication (ICT). It enables litigants, lawyers, and other stakeholders to access case information like case history, status, hearing dates, etc.
§   SUVAS[10] (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software): This is a Machine-assisted AI translation tool that can translate English judicial documents, orders, or judgments into 9 other vernacular languages which include Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Urdu, Assamese, Kannada, Odiya, and Tamil. This is the first initiative by which Artificial Intelligence was introduced in the Indian Judicial Domain.
§  SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency)[11]: This is an Artificial Intelligence Research Assistant tool that helps in increasing the productivity of judges and ultimately helps in reducing the pendency of the cases.
§  Internet Connectivity: under the Wide Area Network project of the Government of India, internet connectivity was provided to about 90% of total court complexes all over India with 100 MBPS bandwidth speed.
§  Smart Scheduling Tool: A new software tool was developed during the time of COVID-19 which helps in auto-scheduling of cases thereby enabling judicial officers to adjourn cases.
§  Live Streaming of Proceedings[12]: Live Streaming of court proceedings was started in the High Courts of Gujarat, Gauhati, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, Madhya Pradesh along with the Honourable Supreme Court of India to facilitate interested persons to join the proceedings.
§  Virtual Courts[13]: Around 3.26 crore traffic challan cases were handled in 22 virtual courts in 18 states/UTs and more than 39 lakh cases, online fines of more than Rs.419.89 crores have been realized.
§  NSTEP[14] (National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes): This initiative was launched for online processes like serving and issuing of summons which has currently been implemented in 28 states/UTs.
§  Digital Signatures[15] and Electronic Payments: For authentication of legal documents, digital signatures are used and for the payment of court fees, electronic payment options are available for making the entire process more seamless.
§  E-Library: Facilitating the E-Resources through the electronic library availability helped the researchers as well as the legal professionals in their research processes which plays a major role in the legal practice.
 
Thus, these are the different functions, and different modes and types of technologies being used in the system and technological advancements are being adopted in the India Legal System.
 
Just like for any other aspect of things, there are both merits and demerits even for the process of adapting the technological advancements in the Legal systems, they are:
 
Merits[16]
·         Increased Efficiency: By using technology and digital tools, the errors which are committed by humans in general can be avoided and the productivity of the legal system and the courts can be improved.
·         Greater Accessibility: Online filings and hearings make the process of administering justice easier and faster and also increase the availableness of the data and case-related information
·         Transparency: All the information about the case history has been made available to all the citizens through several websites and portals, there will be transparency in disclosing the information and there won’t be any falsification of the information with which trust of the people can also be improved.
·         Cost-Effectiveness: With the use of the latest technologies in the judiciary, helps in reducing costs in several ways like paperwork, travel expenses, etc.
·         Improved Record-Keeping: Besides this, storing and securing the records make them easily retrievable hence minimizing the chances of loss or damage as can be observed from the case of physical records.
·         Eliminates Geographic Barriers: The online hearings and dispute resolution systems break the geographical hindrances and allow the participant to attend the trial or any proceedings from any place which minimizes the chances of rescheduling or adjourning the hearing dates.
 
Demerits
·         Increased Dependence on Technology: Depending completely on a particular source like technology may lead to several problems like lack of access to all the people. For example, if there is a power outage, hearings and trials may need to be postponed. If the methods used to store information crash, this could lead to the loss of substantial evidence.
·         Digital Divide: Not everyone has access to technology and internet connectivity, and online or virtual hearings and online dispute resolution systems break the geographical hindrances and let the participant to attend the trial or any proceedings from any place which minimizes the chances of rescheduling or adjourn the hearing dates even in many rural areas many people do not have access to modern technological advancements and systems.
·         Data Privacy and Security: There is a possible risk of cyberattacks and breach of data while storing in the online portals and in some cases, sensitive legal information could be compromised in certain unavoidable circumstances.
·         Learning Curve: All the judges, advocates, court staff, and the parties are also required to learn and get habituated to the new technological advancements to be able to utilize the new systems of the legal department which might be difficult to get trained in the newly introduced technologies.
·         High Costs: Utilization of new technological sources and platforms would be costlier and not everyone can afford those advancements.
·         Unequal Implementation: It is difficult to implement the technological advancements uniformly in all the courts due to a lack of proper funds, low funded courts may lag in technological adaption.
 
Challenges with the Application of Technologies in the Judicial System [17]
§  Data Security: The quantity of data collected and disseminated in the platforms regarding the case status, history, etc the above data has to be protected as any data violation may lead to the compromise of the integrity of the judiciary and hence undermine the public esteem.
§  Bias and Discrimination: However, some of the Artificial Intelligence tools if not well programmed, might reinforce ethnicity, gender, or power bias and discrimination; and the augmentation of the technological systems in the justice administration may well be the augmentation of the biases and unfairness of the system.
§  Lack of Understanding: Lack of technical know-how might be another problem experienced by many legal professionals since it is needed to assess the available technologies. This may cause misconceptions of the technologies and their usage leading to inefficient and or improper usage of the technology.
§  Privacy concerns: It is imaginable to compromise on certain rights particularly the rights of privacy given the rapid enhancement of technologies. For instance, facial recognition technology can be employed in tracking people without their permission and that can in one way or another be regarded as misuse by police or different institutions.
§  Cost: It would be so costly for organizations to adopt, or transition to the new technologies, for which the government or the judicial system may not have the capital to invest, and deploy the new technologies.
§  Ethical Considerations: Regarding the issue of adapting the technologies in the legal systems, many ethical issues have to be regarded such as the absence of human conscience or intervention, which seems to be necessary to be judgemental. All these technologies should not in any way infringe on the rights of the people or erode the principles of the delivery of justice.
 
How to Overcome the Challenges in Implementing the Technological Advancements in the Indian Legal System
§  Ethical Considerations: Appellate practitioners also have to be certain that these technologies are being utilized in a way that adheres to acceptable ethical conduct though lately developed technologies may have moral consequences.
§  Data Privacy and Security: The two main technologies which include Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things are reliant on data collection. This is the data that is being collected hence it is essential that this data is protected or else it should conform to data privacy and security acts.
§  Accessibility: The judicial system as well as the government needs to make sure that the technologies do not act as limitations to those who in one way or another do not have access to the technological devices.
§  Transparency and Accountability: Certain features of applying the technologies have to be evident and respond to value-add accountability so that the technologies are serving the best interest of all the interested parties and not being abused.
§  Training and Education: The system also needs to contain the necessary provisions that will train and educate the judges, lawyers, and the best players in the relevant technologies so that there will be proper usability of the technologies.
 
Relevant Case Laws
1.      K. K. Verma Vs. Union of India (2020) 7 SCC 417:
Ø  In this case, after examining the situation of the Pandemic, the Supreme Court observed and directed the other courts to use the technology of Virtual hearings and online court sessions and also asked to take necessary measures to protect the safety and security of the parties as well as the courts.
2.      Anoop Jain Vs. Union of India (2020) 11 SCC 162
Ø   The court considered the concerns related to the digitalization of records of the courts and using the documents for the legal processes. Therefore, the court highlighted the importance of effective IT tools for the functioning of the judiciary.
3.      S. L. Bhairappa Vs. Union of India [2020] 5 SCCA 365
Ø  Here the SCOB dealt with the matters about the preservation of the confidentiality of information and the application of the measures in the e-court applications.
4.      Ravi Kumar Vs State of Punjab (2021) 7 SCC 765.
Ø  Consequently, APR Vs State of U.P 2019 should be set aside so also this case too.
In this case, the Supreme Court dealt with such matters as the admissibility and authenticity of digital evidence and the question of standards for the presentation and validation of electronic records in legal proceedings.
 
Provisions Regarding Use of Technology in Legal System
1.      Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act):
·         Section 65B: Deals with the admissibility of electronic records as evidence in courts and provides a framework for ensuring the authenticity and reliability of digital evidence.
·         Section 66E: Addresses the violation of privacy through the use of technology, regarding the capturing of images without consent.
2.      Code of Civil Procedure, 1908:
·         Order 7 Rule 14: Deals with the production of documents, and after amendment, it facilitated electronic filing and submission of documents in courts
·         Order 13 Rule 1: Deals with the admission of documents including electronic records.
3.      The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021:
·         Rule 4: This provision imposes obligations on intermediaries to disable access to unlawful content relevant to criminal proceedings involving digital evidence.
·         Rule 6: Provides guidelines for grievance redressal mechanism and ensures that intermediaries cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
 
Conclusion
Technology has improved not just the practice of law but also made tremendous progressions in the basic legal education system in the country. With the transforming society, the Indian legal system has unsurprisingly adapted to the new trending practices all over the world and is obliged to move forward with the technology to meet the ends of justice with enough pace. In the middle of the technology being opportunities and obstacles, it has become a part and parcel of the legal system.
 
Being dynamic and transforming from time to time is necessary for any field of work and system. In the same way, the Indian Legal system is also transforming and adapting the emerging technological advancements. Just like any other thing, Technology also has both positive and negative impacts and thus we can say that its impact on the Legal system has many benefits which increase accountability, transparency, and efficiency in the same way it is also costly, not accessible by everyone, not so reliable and also prone to the threat to the privacy of the people. Thus, it would be appropriate to utilize the technology in the legal and judicial systems, to that extent up to which it wouldn’t cause any harm or threat to the privacy of the people and their data. So, technology has to be used in the most appropriate way to meet the societal, financial, and legal expectations to remain and maintain the core ability to obtain the essentially required result and legal professionals should continue exercising their expertise, using technology as a tool to enhance their abilities and improve the process of administering justice.
References
1.      Manu Smriti and the Ancient Legal System in India, Journal of Legal History and Culture, vol.15, 2018, pp.45-68.
2.      The Constitution of India, Government of India, 1950.
3.      The Role of Judiciary in India, Indian Legal Perspectives, Vol. 7, 2020, pp. 102-110.
4.      Digitalization of Court Proceedings: A Comparative Study, Journal of Law and Technology, Vol.12, 2022.
5.      Artificial Intelligence in Indian Judiciary: A Comparative Study, Journal of Law and Technology, Vol. 9, 2021.
6.      E-filing and its Impact on Indian Judicial Efficiency, Legal Tech Journal, Vol.5, 2020.
7.      Blockchain for Secure Record-Keeping in Courts, International Journal of Legal Technology, Vol.3, 2021.
8.      E-SCR and the Digital Transformation of Legal Systems, Supreme Court of India Reports, 2022.
9.      E-Courts Project Overview, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, 2022.
10.  SUVAS: AI-Powered Translation in Indian Judiciary, Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Law, Vol.2, 2022.
11.  SUPACE: AI in Indian Judicial Process, Supreme Court Insights, Vol.1, 2022.
12.  Live Streaming in Indian Courts: Enhancing Transparency, Media Law Journal, Vol.8, 2023.
13.  Virtual Courts in India: Progress and Challenges, Legal Future Journal, Vol.6, 2021.
14.  NSTEP and the Future of Process Serving in India, Journal of Court Administration, Vol.4, 2021
15.  Digital Signatures in Indian Legal Practice, Journal of Electronic Law and Technology, Vol.5, 2022
16.  The Merits and Demerits of Technological Advancements in Law, Law and Society Review, Vol.10, 2021
17.  Challenges in Implementing Technology in Indian Judiciary, Journal of Law and Policy, Vol.7, 2022.

[1] Manu Smriti and the Ancient Legal System in India, Journal of Legal History and Culture, vol.15, 2018,
pp.45-68.
[2] The Constitution of India, Government of India, 1950.
[3] The Role of Judiciary in India, Indian Legal Perspectives, Vol. 7,2020, pp. 102-110.
[4] Digitalization of Court Proceedings: A Comparative Study, Journal of Law and Technology, Vol.12, 2022.
[5] Artificial Intelligence in Indian Judiciary: A Comparative Study, Journal of Law and Technology, Vol. 9, 2021.
[6]E-filing and its Impact on Indian Judicial Efficiency, Legal Tech Journal, Vol.5, 2020.
[7] Blockchain for Secure Record-Keeping in Courts, International Journal of Legal Technology, Vol.3, 2021.
[8] E-SCR and the Digital Transformation of Legal Systems, Supreme Court of India Reports, 2022.
[9] E-Courts Project Overview, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India,2022
[10] SUVAS: AI-Powered Translation in Indian Judiciary, Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Law, Vol.2,2022
[11] SUPACE: AI in Indian Judicial Process, Supreme Court Insights, Vol.1, 2022
[12] Live Streaming in Indian Courts: Enhancing Transparency, Media Law Journal, Vol.8, 2023
[13] Virtual Courts in India: Progress and Challenges, Legal Future Journal, Vol.6, 2021.
[14] NSTEP and the Future of Process Serving in India, Journal of Court Administration, Vol.4, 2021
[15] Digital Signatures in Indian Legal Practice, Journal of Electronic Law and Technology, Vol.5, 2022
[16] The Merits and Demerits of Technological Advancements in Law, Law and Society Review, Vol.10, 2021
[17] Challenges in Implementing Technology in Indian Judiciary, Journal of Law and Policy, Vol.7, 2022.