Rajiv Theodore
We live in a fast-paced world where new technologies place vast quantities of information at our fingertips in nanoseconds. Thus, it’s not surprising that we want problems solved instantly. Unfortunately, there are systems in our daily life that have failed to keep pace with these blistering changes — like the judicial system which is still bogged down in a different era.
When thinking about the judicial system, the words that come to mind are ponderous, biased, corrupt, expensive, lengthy, etc. It is mind boggling when we confront our country’s state of justice — India now has almost 45 million pending cases spanning across various courts.
If that’s not all, the ability and/or skill of the particular judge hearing the case plays an important role in the final judgement. At times even their temperament could play a decisive role. While in the past one had little option, today with the help of technology, more precisely Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can overcome this lacunae to make the justice delivery system more efficient. The use of AI can help decisions become more transparent, and much swifter. AI could minimise the dependence of justice delivery on skills, temperament, and integrity of advocates and judges.
China might not be the best example while discussing justice delivery, but Beijing’s use of AI in its judicial system is worth a mention. For example, AI is used in commercial disputes be it sale of goods, or e-commerce issues, domain name disputes, and online copyright issues.
Today, courts in Hangzhou, in eastern China, handle more than 10,000 disputes, in roughly half of the time of traditional hearings. Hangzhou had introduced the first justice delivery system run by AI in 2017 with very encouraging outcomes; as a result AI-aided courts began operating 24X7 since then.
China is well ahead of India in using AI in courts and is en route to embrace the transition to smart justice. Robots have been deployed in courts across China who help retrieve case histories, past verdicts, and even are specialised in commercial law or labour disputes. Needless to say, all this reduces the workload of the judges.
Along with this cloud computing, neural networks, and machine learning is used to help litigants and judges resolve cases swiftly. In fact, the whole system is geared to build a technology-friendly judicial system.
Compare this with India where the trial stages take at least 3-4 years. We cannot afford this, especially when India is aspiring for greater economic prosperity on the world map. The timeline for dispatching commercial disputes should drastically come down to six months, if not three. This is what will improve the levels of justice and sanctity to compliance.
COVID-19 has exacerbated the urgency to use technology, with the Supreme Court conducting some virtual hearings through video conference, and also announcing to set up virtual courtrooms to minimise disruptions. The apex court could also standardise video-conferencing, virtual reality studios, mobile app-based modules, and similar technology as they advance. Jurisdictions across the world are increasingly, and successfully incorporating AI to enhance efficient access to case law to assist judges, and assisting in labour intensive tasks such as court transcriptions, albeit with human oversight.
The global legal-tech through the Artificial Intelligence market in 2018 was valued at $3,245 million, and is projected to reach $37,858 million by 2026, with a predicted compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 36 percent between 2019 and 2026.
Technology-augmented solutions for remote dispute resolution such as Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) has the potential to bring scale and broad-based access for corporations with a consumer interface such as banks. This has the potential, perhaps even in remote parts of India for resolving localised disputes.
In rural areas, the ODR could be a game changer by not requiring the litigants’ physical presence and doing away with the additional costs that court appearances entail. AI-led solutions to easier resolution is an idea whose time has come. The use of AI will help to make the judicial process faster, cheaper, and more predictable without compromising the integrity of judges, and discretionary reasoning.
The use of AI would produce tools to support judicial activities, help in intelligent document assembly, case retrieval, support for discretionary decision-making, and developing new analytical tools for understanding and modelling the judicial process. AI tools for decision support is expected to promote uniformity and efficiency in judicial practice and help deliver rational judicial discretion. Such technology would go a long way in promoting flexibility, efficiency, and accuracy in other judicial tasks too, such as drafting of judicial documents.
The use of AI tools comes at a time when judges find themselves in a difficult situation with tightening budgets on one side and increasing demands for justice on the other side. It is also a time when the judges are desperate to maintain the quality of their decision-making process while coping with a time and resource crunch. The adoption of AI in the judicial system is imperative for the justice system to keep pace with the times we are in.
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