Technology and Judiciary

When a person files a complaint/petition/application/appeal whatever it may be called in different judicial forum it contains opposite party against whom he is going to fight the lis. Now the question of notice come into play as one of the fundamental principle of  natural justice i.e. audi alterm pertam which means listen to the other side or let the other side be heard as well. Without proper notice to the opposite parties arbitration of lis is non est in law except few type of cases.

Now the question that arises is who the notice is to be served. In civil law Civil Procedure Code defines the serving notice and when court assume that notice is being properly served. Same principle also applies in other cases also such as family  dispute, NI cases etc.

In our country this procedure consumes lot of time. In many cases defendant /opposite party intentionally delayed the serving of notice upon him and Lawyer also plays a great role in delaying the process.

Now telecom has brought revolution in the world  and made it shorter and  facilitated one most  method of communication i.e. through electronic mail. If notice delivery through mail is considered as due notice served then the hurdle of serving notice to defendent can easily mitigated. Although it may not be possible to get the mail address of all the defendant  whoever in cases involving govt organization/PSU etc  it can be easily ascertained.

Government also make it mandatory for providing mail address of  petitioner so that subsequent stage of notice i.e. at the inquiry/trial stage  any communication required to be made to plaintiff will be easily made . If plaintiff does not have a mail account then he may be provided a government   mail account in the court registry itself.

Till trial starts litigant have to traverse   through discovery of facts and other process before trial. In India we have number of LAW colleges  with thousands of students  we reading LAW. If we can take the help of these students in making brief of the cases so that  when judges see the files they will find the brief ready before them and it will be  easy to determine the fact in issue.

In the same manner such student can be utilized in mediation/conciliatory proceeding by allowing them internship in different court and including that in their curriculum.

Further the records of the cases can also be digitalized which will reduce the burden of the court in keeping voluminous records and record keeping. The certified copy of the order of the court order can be eliminated by giving order judgment of all the courts online.

This is few example who technology can be used to minimize the  time of proceeding in the courts. However  it is upto the government to use such technology in judicial field by constituting a committee and implementing its decision  in letter and spirit.