ICT in Indian Court Challenges & Solution
Recently, the Supreme Court’s e-committee, headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud, is tasked with integrating digital technologies in courts to enhance judicial productivity and efficiency.
Concerns associated with database in judiciary
- Lack of complete and correct judicial data: The 245th Law Commission report noted the lack of complete data as a great handicap in making critical analysis and more meaningful suggestions, while pointing out instances of wrong data being provided to the Commission by the High Courts.
- Current system to collect and publish data not fully efficient: It can be attributed to the lack of a well-designed system with trained professionals to collect and publish such statistical data.
- Different High Courts follow different methods: The data collection from different locations includes different practices of case categorisation and standards of computing the institution, disposal and pendency of cases.
- Data is not present in machine-processable format: In the absence of machine-readable granular data, it is not possible for researchers and case publishers to take either a big-picture or a district-by-district view of the system.
Significance of Centralised Database for Justice System
- Easy to organise data from different sources: The advantages of the database being centralised are that it is much easier to organise, edit, update and back-up the data.
- Easier communication between different departments: It is easier if the data is held on one central computer rather than spread over several and there are no real disadvantages to having a centralised database.
- Ease of administration/monitoring: Because all database connectivity is handled by Intelligence Server, keeping track of all connections to all databases in the system is easy.
- Data redundancy and duplication is minimized: The single-site storage, location and maintenance of a centralized database enable organizations to access and manage their data more easily.
- It improves accuracy and reduces the costs of data storage and processing.
- Enhance Information Security: A centralized database maximizes data security because the data is held within a single system, as opposed to across a range of locations and systems and it is only required to manage security in one location.
Challenges of Centralised Database for Justice System
- Absence of data protection laws in India: The Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) will integrate existing centralised data systems such as the CCTNS, e-prisons and e-courts and promising seamless exchange of live data.
- The critics have raised privacy concerns because the absence of data protection laws in the country.
- Violation of Article 50 which separates judiciary from executive: The experts have questioned the implications of the data being housed in the home ministry for judicial independence.
- Police are allowed to maintain records of the lives and movements of people: The gravest injustice of being labelled as a “habitual offender” (HO) is that it hinges entirely on police suspicion, discretion and conventional knowledge, which are informed by caste prejudices.
- The utilization of ambiguous, outdated provisions to create biased offline databases with no oversight is undoubtedly illegal.
- Doing away the right of accused to challenge the record: An interoperable system creates potential for this information to be used to the detriment of accused persons without their knowledge.
- Existence of British-era rule regarding habitual offender: The e-committee’s vision to integrate all existing data systems to make ICJS one expansive centralised data system would essentially feed and sustain the myth of criminality of a “habitual offender”.
- The efficiency and digitisation cannot recede the rights and dignities of marginalised individuals who are often the subjects of our criminal justice system.
Road ahead
- Collective effort towards collection of data: The Minister of Law & Justice has written to the Chief Justices of all High Courts asking them to make efforts towards collection of judicial statistics.
- Statistical division for collecting and publishing judicial data: The National Court Management Systems Report had urged all High Courts to hire trained professionals to handle judicial statistics.
- All High Courts are required to have a statistical division for collecting and publishing judicial data.
- National Judicial Data Grid: It collects real time information on judicial statistics from all District Courts and High Courts on the e-courts system.
- Establishment of office similar to Office of the Chief Statistician of India: It is essential that the Courts seek the help of trained professionals in order to ensure effective data collection and maintenance.
- National Policy on Official Statistics: It will not only help the judiciary and the Government, but will also help other stakeholders in undertaking research and analysis to help the judiciary in its endeavour to become more streamlined and efficient.
- It will also facilitate a policy of transparency and accountability in the judicial system, and promote engagement with various stakeholders such as the litigants, academics, and the civil society.
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