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INTRODUCTION
Judiciary is one of the pillars of democracy and has proved to be the savior of people’s rights. Courts always come to the rescue whenever there is a grave violation of human rights and thus are very important for a fair run of democracy. Courts have, on many occasions, upheld the constitutional and moral rights of a citizen by scrapping the legislation which endangered these rights. The constitution of India guarantees the Right to speedy trial and justice is encompassed under the Right to life and personal liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the constitution of India, and this right can be enforced by way of E-courts.
The current times of the COVID-19 pandemic have led the courts to go online. The Supreme Court and the fellow subsidiary courts have gone online in this pandemic and proved to be very efficient and beneficial.
E-COURTS PROJECT
The e-Courts project was conceived on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted by the e-Committee, with the goal of transforming the Indian judiciary through ICT enablement of courts.
The e-Courts Mission Mode Project is a pan-India initiative overseen and supported by the Ministry of Law and Justice's Department of Justice for District Courts across the country.
Objectives of the Project
Ø To provide efficient & time-bound citizen-centric service delivery as detailed in e-Court Project Litigant's Charter.
Ø To develop, install & implement decision support systems in courts.
Ø To automate the processes to provide transparency and accessibility of information to its stakeholders.
Ø To enhance judicial productivity, both qualitatively & quantitatively, to make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost-effective, predictable, reliable, and transparent.
ADVANTAGES OF E-COURTS
The advantages which the society can receive from the E-courts are as follows:-
1. The online courts will provide easy access to justice to all sections of society. In addition, there will be speedy delivery of justice.
2. No geographical limit can cease the way of justice. Online courts will save people from the economic strain of traveling, and will also save their time.
3. Online courts ensure the personalized and private proceeding as opposed to the theatrical public involvement.
4. The justice system in India with the use of e-courts can overcome the problems and make the service delivery mechanism transparent and cost-efficient.
5. E-courts will make the litigation faster decreasing the massive backlog of cases already on the judiciary. As of April 2018, there were over three crore cases pending across the Supreme Court, the High Courts, and the subordinate courts (including district courts).
6. All the documents can be stored and transferred online contributing to the environment by reducing the usage and dependence on paper. The online data is non-corruptible, offers numerous backups, security measures to allow authorized access. It is cost-effective, saves money, and can be uploaded in the cloud data, where it may subsequently be delegated at numerous levels.
7. Evidence can be taken online by way of video conferencing from prison cells. The technical witness need not take leave from work.
NEED TO ADDRESS SOME CHALLENGES
As technology gives us immense benefits, yet there are some challenges and problems in enforcing those advantages.
Hacking and Cybersecurity- the crucial and personal data being uploaded online brings with it the risk of hacking and misuse. There is a need for a robust cybersecurity strategy to protect the data being hacked or misused.
Non-availability of resources- the lack of proper infrastructure and non-availability of electricity and internet services in many remote areas and villages can hinder the way of the electronic judiciary system. However, this challenge can be addressed and resolved by better government policies and initiatives to ensure electricity connection and connectivity. The initiative of Digital India is an appreciated step to bridge the gap between justice and lack of infrastructure.
Maintaining e-courts record- The paralegal staff lacks the necessary equipment and training to adequately handle document or record evidence and make it accessible to the litigant, the council, and the court. This challenge can also be addressed with the initiative of imparting proper training to the staff.
CONCLUSION
For the system to go through a beneficial transformation, it has to take on the work and pain in the way of this transformation. The need for E-courts is already suggested by the committees and is supported by many jurists. It is time when this need should be fulfilled with proper policies, initiatives, and work plans setting up a conducive environment for virtual hearings and E-courts.
In this pandemic, courts have already stepped forward and gone online, the only need right now is to take forward this step and establish a proper platform of E-courts. The addition of the E-courts platform in the already existing physical courts will widen the reach of justice and will be beneficial for society at large.
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