Artificial Intelligence and How AI can enhance access to Justice?

To be crisp, Artificial Intelligence is an innovative tool used to make machines that carry intelligence similar to that of a human being . The machine systems improve when they are re- conditioned with the latest information. Artificial Intelligence is one of the technologies which has surged into several industries in no time. Education, health, transportation, media , finance, marketing , cybersecurity, aerospace and what not. Gradually, this particular high- tech has taken a hold of Indian Judiciary too.

AI in Judiciary : Need and Importance

They say, “ change is the only constant thing.”  Globalisation has carved in a technology which has now become a major domain of interest in today's generation and will expand its horizons to a great extent in the future also. To retain the efficiency in the functioning of the judicial system , the concept of AI has been introduced and has a huge impact on the working of Indian Judiciary. The COVID Pandemic escalated the necessity to utilise the apparatus and since then , even though the pandemic has ended , this tool has proved to be beneficial for making improvement in the Indian Judicial system.

The following are some reasons enlisted that have demonstrated the advantages  of implementing Artificial Intelligence in  the Indian Judiciary.

• Better decision making

Human-like intelligent machines , when updated with all the precedents , let the judge to preview their judgements beforehand and decide better.

• Progressive research

Installing AI - based softwares helps individuals get detailed knowledge about topics and identify the material worth reading.

• Speedy justice

The technology of Artificial Intelligence helps in quicker research of the facts of the case that leads to speedy trials and therefore , expeditious justice.

•  Time management

Unlike human beings the artificial intelligence is consistent in its work and analyses the legal databases in time. It does not delay or become lethargic amid the functioning.

• Assistance

Artificial Intelligence is a helping hand to the advocates and judges for settlement of disputes by providing reasonable insights to cases.

• Mitigating the burden of the courts

The number of cases that are pending in our Indian courts is uncountable. Hence day to day cases could be dealt with by the artificial intelligence and much heinous matters are managed by the respective advocates and judges.

• Time effective

The task of writing the matter of the cases has become easy with the concept of artificial intelligence as it can help prepare all the  summary material and legal work.

• Cost reduction

With machines , computer systems and AI , manual labour has been eliminated to a great extent that has helped reduce costs that were before applied for making legal documents.

• Enhanced accuracy

Machine intelligence minimises the risks of mistakes in the legal documents as compared to work done by humans. This in turn leads to efficiency in the functioning of Artificial Intelligence and Indian Courts.

Besides , there are several other factors that serve as evidence for how AI has enhanced access to justice. Such as, with artificial intelligence, translations are possible in different cases across the globe. Moreover,  using virtual assistants as lawyers that advocate and put forward the arguments for clients reduce the work of advocates and judges and provide for speedy settlement of disputes with maximum accuracy. Organisation of the cases and scheduling and rescheduling of trial dates are also one of the beneficial results of implementing the usage of artificial Intelligence in the Indian Judiciary.

Judicial Reforms

• E-Courts

It was conceptualised with a vision to   transform the Indian Judiciary by Information and communication technology ( ICT). It is a pan-India Project, monitored and funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, for the District Courts across the country. This has been established to provide efficient and time-bound citizen centric services delivery. To enhance judicial productivity , qualitatively and quantitatively and to make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible , cost- effective, predictable, reliable and transparent.

• Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software (SUVAS)

To encourage regional languages in legal processes, the Supreme Court developed the Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software (SUVAS), an AI-powered translation tool. SUVAS can translate judicial documents between English and regional languages.The then CJI S.A. Bobde launched it in November 2019.The E-SCR portal commenced in 2023 with a modest 2,238 translated judgments in January but concluded with a substantial achievement of over 31,000 rulings translated by the end of the year.

• Supreme Court Portal for assistance in court’s efficiency (SUPACE)

CJI has launched AI-based portal SUPACE to assist judges in case management and decision-making. It is not designed to take decisions, but only to process facts and to make them available to judges looking for an input for a decision. It will produce results customized to the need of the case and the way the judge thinks. This will be time saving. It will help the judiciary and the court in reducing delays and pendency of cases.

The Madras High Court has also implemented an officers’ management system, recruitment software, a display board service, e-filing, and an Advocate Information & Management System (AIMS). 

Therefore, Artificial Intelligence has brought a drastic change in the domain of judiciary in the Indian territory. The introduction of new technologies like Artificial intelligence has completely reformed the Indian Judicial system and strengthened the competence of the legal work and it's regulation in our country.