Artificial Intelligence and Judiciary
GS 2 Executive & Judiciary GS 3 Information Technology Governance.
Currently in the news
- An unstarred question was recently raised in the Lok Sabha during the first half of the Budget session of Parliament, and it was posed in relation to artificial intelligence and its use in judicial procedures in order to shorten the length of time that cases are left on the bench.
Pendency of Cases
- According to data from the Law Ministry, the High Court (which has 57.39 lakh cases) and the subordinate courts (1, 08, 36,087 cases) have together conducted 1.65 crore virtual hearings through 2021.
The advantages of incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning into the delivery of justice
- After successfully completing phase two of the eCourts projects, which have been in operation since 2015, it was determined that new, cutting-edge technologies such as Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were required in order to improve the efficiency of the justice delivery system.
- It has been established by the Supreme Court of India an Artificial Intelligence Committee, which has identified three key applications of artificial intelligence technology: translation of court papers; legal research aid; and process automation.
- ML-based applications in the judiciary: Artificial intelligence-powered tools such as SUPACE will not only assist in the organisation of cases, but they will also bring references into the decision at a pace that has not been seen before.
- Artificial intelligence will provide a more efficient, cost-effective, and time-bound way of achieving the basic right to access justice.
- Tools generated from artificial intelligence (AI) might aid in the management of case flow, which in turn could assist to reduce delays and pendency in the courts.
- The application of algorithms to evaluate thousands of past instances in order to provide a “judge analytics.”
- During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of technology for e-filing and virtual hearings has seen a dramatic increase, which can be attributed to the fact that these problems can be solved using this technology.
Issues and challenges associated with artificial intelligence in the judiciary
- It is still a long way off from being utilised as a decision-making tool by the judiciary in India’s legal system, which has so far been limited to automating back-end tasks.
- Many rulings, particularly in the lower courts, have not yet been fully digitised, which is a problem.
- According to worldwide trends, a wider use of these instruments in the Indian judicial system is unavoidable in the near future.
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning should be used to aid, not replace, human decision-making.
- The ethical and appropriate use of artificial intelligence and machine learning for the progress of efficiency enhancement can be more incorporated into legal and judicial procedures as time goes on.
The Best Way Forward
- In some regions of the United States, controversially, automated methods were being used to decide bail applications, while other nations, such as Estonia, have embraced artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) in a significant degree.
- However, the Indian court system is typically considered to be “more conservative,” and there is still more effort to be done in order to make India’s legal data compatible with ML formats.
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning can be tried in tribunals where there is no requirement for oral testimony or cross-examination.
- The domain of consumer courts is one in which artificial intelligence can be beneficial.
- However, in criminal trials, where oral testimony and cross questioning are critical procedures, we must rely on regular human involvement to ensure that justice is served.
