Abstract
In India, the COVID-19 crisis came at a time when the focus was already on accelerating the setting up of E-courts and the digitization of justice and court administration. The journey of e-Governance initiatives in court administration started mainly in the mid-1990s and was further enhanced after enactment of the Information Technology Act 2000 (amended 2008). E-courts were launched as a part of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) way back in 2006. However, it appears that the sudden and unexpected advent of COVID-19 crisis has provided a greater fillip in bringing about a rapid transformation in the manner of court administration in the country. As physical appearances by lawyers and litigants were discouraged in courts due to the strict safety protocols of the COVID-19 crisis, greater use of technology, already put in place, came in handy in justice and court administration. This paper aims to broadly cover the situation in India before the COVID-19 crisis, and examine how the court administration reacted to various challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 crisis, particularly, in the period after lockdown. It will outline the major technological initiatives existing in court administration in India before the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, such as court related apps, before discussing how courts at various levels, including Lok Adalats (People’s Courts), the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the District and Subordinate Court, modified the manner of court functioning during COVID, accelerating the move towards e-Judiciary. It will then discuss some of the challenges that have been encountered, including reservations of the Bar, and major hurdles facing the court administration post-COVID 19.
Highlights
It is an irony of fate that the COVID-19 crisis in India came at a time when justice and court administration had reached the threshold of a new era with a lot of groundwork alreadyArt. 11, page 2 of 14 “The COVID-19 Crisis – the New Challenges Before the Indian Justice and Court Administration System”done, specially during the last decade or so, in the area of utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet
This paper aims to broadly cover the situation in India before the COVID-19 crisis, and examine how the court administration reacted to various challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 crisis, in the period after lockdown
It will outline the major technological initiatives existing in court administration in India before the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, such as court related apps, before discussing how courts at various levels, including Lok Adalats (People’s Courts), the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the District and Subordinate Court, modified the manner of court functioning during COVID, accelerating the move towards e-Judiciary
Summary
It is an irony of fate that the COVID-19 crisis in India came at a time when justice and court administration had reached the threshold of a new era with a lot of groundwork alreadyArt. 11, page 2 of 14 “The COVID-19 Crisis – the New Challenges Before the Indian Justice and Court Administration System”done, specially during the last decade or so, in the area of utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet. Art. 11, page 2 of 14 “The COVID-19 Crisis – the New Challenges Before the Indian Justice and Court Administration System”. The e-Governance initiatives in justice and court administration were further enhanced after enactment of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended 2008). The sudden and unexpected onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis has thrown up new challenges in the justice and court administration in the country, including those facing the courts in the aftermath of the lockdown. To put things in proper perspective, we begin by outlining in more detail the major technological initiatives existing in court administration in India before the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, such as court related apps. Thereafter, we examine how the court administration reacted to the challenges thrown up by COVID-19, investigating how courts at various levels, including Lok Adalats (People’s Courts), modified the manner of court functioning. We highlight how the COVID-19 crisis changed the working of the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the District and Subordinate Courts, in particular, accelerating the move towards e-Judiciary, before discussing reservations of the Bar and some major hurdles facing the court administration in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis in India
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