Virtual Courts will make justice more accessible, cheaper: Senior Advocate Shyam Divan

Conducting court proceedings via video conference makes courts more accessible and cheaper for litigants, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan said on Saturday..Taking cue from Justice V Rabasubramaniam’s example of Robotic courts in China, the senior lawyer noted that we were staring at a value system and whether we wanted robotic justice. He said, “Does the Constitution allow that? Because there is a lot which can be attained in terms of the access to justice through that means.”The senior lawyer illustrated how China was a leading example of swift justice. "Just as you have an ATM, which we take for granted… you have justice delivery kiosks operating on AI across China including rural areas and a huge number of disputes are being solved today. Petty, minor and sometimes major are being resolved… And you have a statistical response through AI about your chances of success. Judges are being guided by precedents, etc. Imagine how cheap this is. How much it improves and allows access to justice. It is another matter as to the impact it is going to have on us the members of the bar," he added.But from an access of justice point of view, the lawyer highlighted it to be a remarkable measure. "It is like a revolution. Like our consumer courts," said Divan.Divan said one of the great advantages of having a huge technological changes besides AI coming into the picture had therefore increased the access to justice. "Let’s not look at the virtual courts from the standpoint of video screens etc., let’s also consider it from a larger perspective of sweeping technological changes," he argued."There is no doubt that in terms of the economy, virtual courts… ought to make it a lot cheaper the access to justice at the end of the day. Such type of efficiency, I believe, ought to be encouraged and therefore that is an enormous plus in terms of the virtual courts and all the paraphernalia that we associate with virtual courts," added Divan.As far as digital divide is concerned, Divan agreed with Justice S Muralidhar, who spoke at the event earlier. “I fully agree with him on the point that in several courts, and I really salute the courts, where he has acted, also salute the Supreme Court, and the manner in which the judges have adopted this new technology. But it is not a uniform experience across the country. Even in our Constitutional Courts, we find that there is tremendous resistance from a large number, I am sorry to say, of honourable judges as well. It may be because of fear of the technology. It may be other factors, where people are reluctant. It is not the bar alone, and segments of the bar, which are resistant to this change. You will fund that resistance to that change also at some elements in the judiciary,” said Divan.However, the adverse impact of increase in technology could be robotic justice, he added. "Access to justice from the standpoint of litigant, from a financial perspective, virtual courts will make access to justice a lot cheaper," he said. We should, therefore, ensure that fair and adequate hearings are not compromised and processes are preserved, he said..Divan was speaking at a symposium organised by the CAN Foundation in partnership with National Law University, Jodhpur and Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) on the topic 'Strengthening Doorstep Justice - Augmenting Access to Virtual Courts’.The senior lawyer also deliberated on China's justice delivery kiosks running on Artificial Intelligence and called them "revolutionary"..On the other hand, he examined the adverse impact of robotic justice on the larger system. "Robotic courts is one thing, but robotic justice would be a little bit of problem, at least for someone like me... Justice Muralidhar said perhaps we should not be looking at replicating the physical courtroom. I agree with that.. Let us identify particular values in terms of fair and adequate hearings, preservation of the integrity of the process... Justice delivery in our system is a huge team effort," Divan underscored..He also spoke about the concerns raised by several young lawyers joining the Bar during times of virtual hearings, while underscoring that juniors learn a lot from open court hearings.Hence, the solution may be to make the transition to virtual courts gradual, he opined."To me, our profession, for crores of people. Across the country, it is not just the lawyers I am taking about but the entire family around the lawyer. The LLB degree, the fact that you wear a black coat and you go to work in a court and sit in the courtrooms supplies an enormous amount of dignity. It not only supplies dignity in our culture, in our societal milieu, it also gives along with that, status in society," he said.Raising doubt of a sudden shift to virtual courts, and not be in courtrooms while depriving the "brethren at the bar" the lawyer it was not only just the senior bar, but also very importantly, about the junior bar. "I think a lot of learning which all of us do is not in law college alone but learning from how others argue and most importantly how not to argue," he declared.The senior lawyer also stressed on the role of the bar associations in bridging the gap of the prevailing digital divide in the country and urged them to come forward..He also said that Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued by courts to regulate virtual courts hearings are an "embarrassment" and concrete rules have to be framed to govern such hearings."If we get the rules, we will know that this will stay and we will work towards it."The event was also attended by Supreme Court judge, Justice V Ramasubramanian, Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, NLU Jodhpur Vice Chancellor Poonam Saxena, GNLU Director Dr. S Shanthakumar and CAN Foundation CEO Siddharth R Gupta. Advocate Sriram Parakkat moderated the session. .[Watch the Full Session].[Read a live-account]