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Fair, inexpensive and quick dispensation of justice is the
ultimate aim of every legal system. However, usually it fails to do so. In the
novel 'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens, it is said, "This is court of
chancery, which so exhausts finances, patience, hope." In recent times, it
has been repeated by Lord Denning in his own way, "Law's delays have been
intolerable ... They have lasted so long as to turn justice sour"; so true
of our legal system. Is Information Technology the panacea for soured justice?
What role can computers have in the justice delivery system?
Roger Penrose is Rouse Bell Professor of Mathematics at
Oxford. He wrote a best seller (The Emperor's New Mind) in 1989 to prove that
neither are human beings computers nor can they be replaced by computers.
Nevertheless, computers can do one thing very well ie sift and analyse data;
monitor the progress; and improve time management. Computers and Information
Technology though utilised in some legal systems are yet to be fully utilised by
us. They can help in case management, court administration, and self
improvement.
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Database Should Have... |
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Indexing of the library
books.
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Service records of the
employees including details regarding leave, provident fund, etc.
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List of the Advocates.
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Judgements and status of
a case (brief order sheet) may be made available on the Internet for
the public to view.
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Case Management
It is a very old saying, "If you have to cut a tree in eight hours, you
don't chop it all the time: sharpen your axe for six hours." In order to
sort out any problem, its magnitude and causes should be found out first. Then
comes the solution. This can be done by proper analysis of data.
A criminal case in the session court starts from the stage of
committal by the magistrate and stage 1 could consist of committal/ registration
and framing of charge. The rest of the stages may be similar to those in the
magistrate's court. The 2002 amendment in the CPC provides time limit for
different stages in a civil case however the relevant point to note is that
different stages require different period of time to be spent at each stage.
Recording of evidence and hearing arguments requires more time than registration
or passing an order regarding service or framing issues. It is equally true for
the criminal cases. Apart from it, a case fixed for recording of evidence and
where witnesses are also present, may not be adjourned. However similar
strictness may not be observed at other stages.
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How to
Generate Meaningful Reports... |
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Some data is in digital form and some
in the record books. It can be easily analysed if it is updated and
appropriate reports are generated. These reports may be weekly, monthly,
or yearly as the circumstances demand. Following reports may be generated.
Formal Witnesses
(Criminal case) Report: This report may contain names and addresses of
the formal witnesses (doctors and IOs) with details regarding the criminal
case in which their evidence is required and the court where these cases
are pending.
Undertrial Report:
This report should include details of the pending cases where there are
undertrials with length of their detention and the details of the courts
where there cases are pending.
Case-wise Pendency Report:
It should include information regarding pending cases in a judgeship-the
date of filing of a case, type of the case and nature of the case.
Court-wise Pendency
Report: This should include cases pending in every court in a
judgeship with break up of type and nature of cases.
Clearance Report:
This report should contain the ratio between cases decided divided by
cases filed in percentage. It should be for all cases as well as court
wise with break up regarding different types of cases.
Disposal Report: The
decided cases fall in following categories:
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Without contest but not
on merits ie dismissed for default; dismissed as not pressed or
withdrawn.
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Without contest on
merits ie exparte decisions, or on the basis of compromise.
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After contest.
This report should indicate the
number of cases decided by the judges in the above mentioned categories
along with the number of days the Judge was on duty.
Stayed Cases Report:
This report should include details of the cases that are not proceeding.
This may be due to the reason that further proceeding of the case has been
stayed or the records have been summoned by the higher courts or it could
be for any other reason.
Caveat Report: This should contain
the caveat filed in the judgeship. |
In order to have more efficient management of criminal cases
and tracking of criminal files, the registration of criminal cases should be
from the stage of remand rather than from the stage of filing of the police
report. The bail applications may be treated as applications in the case. It
would save unnecessary waste of time in tracking the files, bail bonds, FIRs and
other papers. The criminal case number in a magistrate's court also changes
with the change of court. This need not be done and can remain the same,
irrespective of the change of the court like in civil cases. This can be done by
allotting a computer number or tracking a case by crime number.
Let's consider reports/database that will help in
understanding the problems and their solution could be considered. The software
should be such that the reports should be automatically generated. Time need not
be wasted in creating these reports manually.
The list of every court should be state wise. A judge is
master of his own court and can fix cases of different stages according to the
availability of time and his capability. Generally in civil cases, the final
hearing includes the plaintiff's evidence and defendant's evidence. If
possible, the appropriate time to be taken up in a case may also be indicated.
This list may be available on the Internet. This will also help us generate list
of the criminal cases that are at the stage of preparation and supply of
documents and can help deal with them more effectively.
The time spent should indicate time taken at different stages
of a case. This will help in identifying the problems and problematic areas.
They, in turn, could be more effectively dealt with. Often a case is not taken
up as more cases are listed than can be taken up.
Some margin (about 25%) should be given while listing the
cases, expecting that some will be adjourned. The list as indicated above will
help the judges in managing their list better.
Court Management
There is delay in issuing certified copies of the judgements. All judgements
may be uploaded on a server and their uncertified copy or certified copy may be
issued by printing the same. Till this is achieved, every judgement should also
have two carbon copies, so that the certified copy can be issued immediately or
the certified copy may be issued by issuing a photostat copy. This practice is
being followed in most of the judgeships. In order to have a better control and
to see whether certified copies have been issued or not, some reports could be
generated. These could be money deposit reports, budget reports etc.
Funds
Information Technology requires infrastructure and we have limited funds. We
have to make best use of our limited resources. This could be done by using open
source software (OSS) rather than any proprietary or close source software. No
royalty is required to be paid for OSS; however, money could be charged for
services.
Change in Attitude
Michael Crichton (of 'Jurassic Park' fame) in the book Electronic life
says that computers are like 'English butlers'. They have to be told what to
do and they do it in that way and no other way. Computers love routine and are
never bored. But to achieve any success, the minds of the judges, lawyers, and
court employees have to be streamlined into a method. One has to leave
individualism. The reports cannot be generated unless data is fed into
computers; they will not have any meaning unless they are utilised and goals are
fixed. And above all, if there is no will to change, no orientation to the work
culture, then nothing can work.
-Justice Yatindra Singh
The author is a judge at Allahabad High Court mail@dqindia.com Page(s) 1
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