Justice now depends on technology,’ said SA Bobde. Indian judiciary has miles to go

 

Legal acumen doesn't translate to tech competence. We need adequate training to transit from paper briefs to screens.

Former Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde said in his farewell address, “Access to justice now depends on access to technology.” Technological transformations in the Indian judicial ecosystem, which were brought about in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, have received both praise and criticism from the public. The courts’ inability to function physically pushed them to explore these technological capabilities in order to dispense justice. The Supreme Court acted promptly, issuing a set of guidelines for video conferencing to reduce physical interaction through a suo motu writ petition.

Other major technology-driven reforms included e-filing of petitions, virtual hearings, and live streaming of court proceedings. Data from the e-committee of the Supreme Court reveals that as of 30 June 2021 (for an average of three months), 40,43,300 and 74,15,989 lakh cases were dealt with through video conferencing by the high courts and the district courts, respectively. The e-committee drafted model rules defining the contours of these reforms, indicating that the Indian judiciary in the post-pandemic days is likely to be a hybrid of physical and virtual courts.

While these changes are a welcome step towards improving the efficiency of the system, it is critical to bear in mind that technology is not an elixir for the problems affecting the judiciary. It will bring with it a series of challenges that may make justice even more inaccessible for the common (wo)man.

Digital divide at Bar and Bench

Differential access to devices and technological infrastructure, bandwidth and connectivity issues, and varying levels of comfort and know-how in the use of technology are some of the challenges that affect all the stakeholders in the judiciary, especially those working closely with the district courts in rural parts of India. Preliminary findings from the ongoing survey of trial courts conducted by the office of the Chief Justice of India reveal that only 27 per cent of the courtrooms in the subordinate courts have computers on the judge’s dais and 10 per cent have no access to the Internet. This implies that most courts, especially in the district judiciary, are currently not equipped to function virtually.

Ever since the imposition of the first lockdown in March 2020, the Bar Council of India has expressed concerns over the deep-rooted inequality in access to technology — depriving advocates from certain demographics of their livelihood. A survey conducted by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy of 2,800 advocates across eight high courts revealed that there exists a large pay gap between the earnings of entrants and senior advocates in the litigation profession. Eighty per cent of practising advocates, who were part of the pilot survey in Delhi, responded that advocates with up to two years of practice earn anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000 monthly. Shockingly, 40 per cent of young advocates from the High Courts of Allahabad, Bombay, Kerala, Madras, and Patna earn only between Rs 2,000-5,000 monthly, while 50 per cent from the Calcutta High Court said that they earn less than Rs 10,000 a month.

This gives a realistic picture of what could likely be the state of affairs of advocates who practise in semi-urban or rural areas. It is unfair that the system expects these advocates to have access to the Internet, advanced digital equipment, and keep themselves abreast of the latest technological developments in the ecosystem. Undoubtedly, this results in litigation being dominated by a handful of elite advocates who have the privilege to log in from the comfort of their homes or chambers and attend hearings on multiple windows across different high courts and the Supreme Court simultaneously.

Connectivity and technological competence

Robust Internet connection and superior video conferencing facilities are other critical requirements for an uninterrupted virtual court proceeding. The 103 report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee identifies connectivity divide or access to broadband Internet as roadblocks to digital courts. Even the district judiciary in Delhi was unable to provide adequate bandwidth, network-attached storage, and routers for conducting virtual hearings. The high court had to direct the government to procure the necessary hardware to ensure access. The issue is not just confined to the courts, but extends to a substantial number of litigants and advocates as well, who are vulnerable to being excluded from the process of justice delivery due to heterogeneity in Internet penetration.

The last in this genre of challenges is the large proportion of judges, court staff, and advocates who do not have sufficient knowledge and skill to use technology. Legal acumen does not necessarily translate to technological competence, and it is vital that adequate training be imparted to ease the transition from traditional paper briefs to screens and systems.

A coordinated effort to address a gamut of issues

Access to foundational infrastructure, stable Internet connection, and the ability to use technology in the conventional work routines are only some of the teething problems that the justice system is facing. Ensuring secure video and audio conferencing without compromising the privacy of the litigants and adhering to the ‘open court’ principles are key challenges that will need the system’s due attention. On the criminal justice side, the judiciary has another gamut of issues to consider while integrating its processes with technology.

Better coordination between the judiciary and the government concerning the allocation of funds and procurement of necessary hardware and inclusion of experts to design and build the standards and specifications for the software to enable the digital transformation of the judiciary at all tiers are urgent requirements. The road ahead does not look easy unless all the stakeholders cooperate to overcome bureaucratic hurdles, prioritise funding to address the foundational problems, and build systems that are inclusive to ensure better access to justice.

Reshma Sekhar is Senior Resident Fellow with the Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in

Source: The Print, 1/11/21

How tech can transform law enforcement

 This will significantly increase the efficiency of our LEAs and, at the same time, drastically reduce the time taken to provide justice. It can be a win-win for all the key stakeholders.There is an urgent need for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to adopt technology in their operations as it can act as a force multiplier. This is especially true in India where the police to population ratio is less than 150 per 100,000, whereas the United Nations recommends 222 police officials per 100,000 residents. But there are ways in which LEAs can use technology to increase their efficiency and effectiveness.

One, digitise citizen-facing services. Most citizens in India dread the idea of having to go to a police station. Technology can help make this interaction more pleasant. By providing digital access to the police, citizens can avail services from the comfort of their home. The Punjab Police has a citizen-facing portal, Saanjh, which provides online services for downloading first information reports and searching for stolen vehicles and lost mobiles, among other services. These digital portals also provide an easy and transparent mechanism to the citizens to register their complaints, provide feedback and track their complaint status. Technology can also be used to provide senior police officials dashboard views for their areas of jurisdiction, identify trends, patterns, outliers and take corrective action.

In addition to digital portals, social media can be used by LEAs to reach out directly to citizens — providing information on traffic jams, how to protect against cybercrime, dispelling rumours, countering fake news. The social media interaction can be both “push” — alerts are sent to citizens — or “pull” — citizens access the social media page/handle in order to get the desired information.

Two, use it for crime detection. Technology can effectively help get a digital footprint of the criminal. Mobile forensics can be used to retrieve critical information such as contacts, photos, SMS, video, email, web browsing history, location information and social networking messages. Call Detail Records (CDR) contain information about calls made and received, cell tower location, International Mobile Equipment Identity — a unique identifier for each mobile phone, and International Mobile Subscriber Identity — a unique identifier for each SIM. Due to the high usage of mobile phones, it is difficult to analyse these records manually. CDR analysis tools can be used to identify call patterns, most frequently called numbers, geo-location, and help in tracking missing persons, lost mobiles, movement, and establish relationships between criminal associates.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to match fingerprints, facial images, analyse CCTV footage and recognise vehicle number plates. In order to detect false number plates, AI can also be used to recognise the make and model of the car and match it with the vehicle registered with that number plate. Big Data can be used to integrate data from multiple sources such as social media tools, financial institutions, travel records, hotel stays, CDRs and criminal records. This can help create a 360-degree view of the criminal and draw linkages between criminal associates.

Smartphone apps linked to centralised databases can provide the investigating officer real-time access to information on missing vehicles, missing people, dead/unidentified bodies and criminal records, thereby significantly reducing the time taken to investigate a crime.

Three, use it in the realm of crime prevention. The holy grail for any LEA is to be able to prevent a crime before it takes place. Big Data can play a major role as it can be used to identify crime patterns and hot spots. AI can be used to draw correlations between the type of crime, time, location. Analysing crime patterns in Punjab showed that snatching incidents peaked around 8 pm in rural districts whereas the peak occurred around 10 pm for urban areas. Information of streets/roads where most of the snatchings occur can be studied by plotting the crime locations on maps. The findings can then be used to deploy beat constables more effectively thereby reducing/preventing crime. Given the high number of postings and transfers in the police, the MIS reports and dashboards can help the newly transferred officer to get up to speed quickly.

Sentiment analysis of social media chatter can be used to identify potential riots (including location and time) as well as track the source of rumours designed to create communal disharmony. Social media can also be used in a proactive manner to provide authentic information to the public and dispel false rumours/fake news.

Four, LEAs have often not fully appreciated the impact of technology for improving internal efficiency. While most police departments in India have an operational human resources management system in place, efforts need to be put in to mine the data more effectively. Analysis of educational qualifications, age, gender, religion, caste, training, posting, rank, and supervisor-to-employee ratio can be used to identify gaps in the organisation.

These gaps can be addressed via hiring, training, postings thereby ensuring a more “balanced” and effective organisation. Similarly, key performance indicators such as the time taken to file a charge-sheet, types of crimes solved, time taken to address complaints, citizen feedback scores can be used to determine an officer’s performance in a more objective manner.

Training-Open Source Learning Management Systems, low-cost bandwidth and a digitally aware workforce mean that it is now possible to provide online training in a cost-effective manner on an unprecedented scale. To increase reach and effectiveness, these courses need to be offered in vernacular languages, they can be quiz-based, and certificates and recognition given to officers who demonstrate the ability to leverage these learnings in their jobs.

And finally, real-time integration. The five pillars of the criminal justice system are police, courts, prosecution, jails and forensics. While efforts have been made to integrate data from these five pillars at the central level, a lot of work needs to be done to integrate these systems at the state level. Countless man-years are lost in taking physical files from one place to another. Real-time integration between the information technology systems of these pillars will help in reducing duplicate data entry and errors. This will significantly increase the efficiency of our LEAs and, at the same time, drastically reduce the time taken to provide justice. It can be a win-win for all the key stakeholders.

Dhruv Singhal is the chief technology officer of Punjab Police

Source: Hindustan Times, 12/02/21