Virtual Courts — Faster Justice for Indian Judiciary

It’s a popular belief among commons that the conventional Indian judiciary system is plague-ridden and lacks heavily in fulfilling its duty. However, we should not blame the system alone. It’s not easy to handle the legal dispute of such a huge population with utmost perfection.

The virtual court showed a ray of hope for the Indian judiciary system. First started at a very small scale in 2019 at Delhi NCR, virtual courts are now handling legal issues at a large scale. Is it enough or does it requires more effort? Let’s explore together.

Virtual Court — A Step Taken For Good

AI-enabled virtual courts are the courts running over the internet and don’t seek the physical presence of litigates, judges, lawyers, or any other legal bodies. Using video conferencing technology, they can be a part of a legal trial from a remote location as long as they have a data-driven device and an active internet connection.

The idea of taking legal matters online first came into practice in 2019 when Delhi District Court established e-courts for early disposal of traffic challan-related matters. It was a small scale. But, when the pandemic happened, its adoption accelerated as SJI didn’t want the legal system of India to disrupt or fall because of the lockdown.

A framework, specifically for the Indian Judiciary, was designed for setting up e-courts across India as per the National Policy & Action Plan to deploy Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (2005) successfully.

The proposed actions were:

● To endow Indian citizens with a coherent judiciary system

● Digitization of legacy court system

● Ensure that people have quick and transparent access to justice

● Taking measures to improve the justice delivery

● Reducing operational costs by setting-up virtual courts

It was much-needed support as virtual courts allowed everyone to seek justice from anywhere. In addition, the virtual court helped the Indian judiciary system to cut down the case disposal time. Neither judges nor litigates have to travel for a case hearing which used to consume a lot of time, effort, and cost.

Challenges Are Never Ending

While setting-up virtual courts is a much-appreciated step, it wasn’t without any challenge. Some of the key challenges are:

● Lack of technical competency in the lawyers litigates, and even judges. Not everyone is skilled enough to deal with internet and connectivity tools.

● Incompetency IT system of India. India is not a fully digitized country. In remote areas, people don’t have access to technology, the internet, and even electricity around the clock. Hence, virtual courts have limited penetration.

● Unawareness about data security and protection. People don’t understand the power of data and the importance of protecting it. When virtual courts are in full swing. A lot of critical data will be generated and it’s important to protect it. Hence, it’s a lot more work to do when it comes to improving the cybersecurity landscape of India.

A Ray Of Hope

Even if challenges are there, the concept of virtual courts is great. This initiative can change the face of the Indian judiciary system and empower it like never before. From easy access to justice to improving justice delivery, virtual courts are going to make everything possible.