Court Design Handbook

Court Design Handbook for District Courts in India

The Design Handbook seeks to envision and implement a user-centric District Court Complex responsive to the needs of all diverse users, i.e., litigants, judges, lawyers, Court staff, witnesses, accused persons, police, public visitors and other stakeholders in the justice system. A principles-based framework is used to highlight associated guidelines and design considerations, for creating truly inclusive, accessible, efficient, comfortable, adaptable, and sustainable Courts where the experience of seeking and providing justice is significantly improved.

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Projects Authors And Acknowledgements

Shreya Tripathy is a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy working as part of the Justice, Access, and Lowering Delays in India (JALDI) Initiative. Priyamvadha Shivaji is a Research Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy working as part of the Justice, Access, and Lowering Delays in India (JALDI) Initiative. Brinda Sastry is an architect, urban designer, and planner with experience in formulating policies, audit frameworks, and design guidelines, with a participatory approach, to ensure inclusive and equitable design of public places. Shreya Shetty is an architect and urban design consultant, Co-Founder of 369 Ochre Studio who assisted in drafting the Harmonised Guidelines & Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021, drafted by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) & Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee released by Central Public Works Department, Government of India under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Bhagyalaxmi Madapur , Co-Founder of 369 Ochre Studio in Bengaluru, India, is an architect and urbanist who worked as a contract consultant with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the project "Sponge City: Towards Building Flood Resilient Kolkata," which involved creating educational materials-infographic handbooks, videos, and brochures aimed at strengthening the capacity of Kolkata Municipal Corporation for resilient urban services. Abubakar Shaikh is an architect and Art Lead at Autovrse. Gayatri Ganesh is an architect and Experience Designer at Autovrse. Milind D.P. is the Executive Vice President, Consultancy & Projects, BNA Technology Consulting Ltd. His division is focused on IT Infrastructure Design, Project Management and Monitoring of ICT Projects. Arun Kumar is an acoustic consultant at HMPL Consulting Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, with over 8 years of expertise in Architectural, Environmental, and Industrial Acoustics, dedicated to shaping sound environments for optimal experiences. Akshatha Hariharan is an architect exploring the realms of Visual & User experience design. Rama Raghavan is an Architectural writer and researcher based in Pune. As a pedagogue, she has curated courses in Accessibility and Universal Design. She has worked on several publications that intricately connect the built environment with socio-spatial dimensions. This report has been in the making for over two years and owes a great deal to the inputs provided by a multitude of people. The authors would like to thank the following: Deepika Kinhal (Team Lead, JALDI) for her guidance throughout the project and for reviewing the report. The authors are also grateful to Reshma Sekhar (Former Senior Resident Fellow, JALDI) for her contribution to the conceptualisation of the Handbook. Dr. Gaurav Raheja (Professor of Architecture, IIT Roorkee) and Dr. Rahela Korakhiwala (Author, From the Colonial to the Contemporary: Images, Iconography, Memories, and Performances of Law in India's High Courts) for their guidance in the conceptualisation stage. Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad (Former Chief Justice, Jammu & Kashmir High Court), Justice Ponugoti Naveen Rao (Former Acting Chief Justice, Telangana High Court) and Mr. Suresh Kogilgere (Former Registrar, Karnataka High Court) for their inputs for the project. Dr. Tanya Machado (Professor of Clinical Psychology (Rtd). Consultant Clinical Psychologist) and Dr. Ria Fernandez (Rehabilitation Specialist, Mazumdar Shaw Hospital) for their inputs on child-friendly design and providing trauma-informed design considerations for vulnerable witnesses. Akhilesh (Project Second Chance) for his inputs on safe, secure, and humane design considerations for accused persons. Nilesh Singit (independent accessibility expert) and Dr. Sanjay Jain (Professor at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru), members of the Supreme Court Committee on Accessibility, for their inputs on ensuring universal accessibility. Alok Prasanna Kumar (Co-founder and Team Lead, Vidhi Karnataka), and Vidhi Fellows Manmayi Sharma (Senior Resident Fellow, Disability Inclusion & Access), Yashaswini Basu (Outreach Lead, Nyaaya), Yogini Oke (Impact and Partnerships Fellow), Shireen Yachu (Communications Fellow, Impact Collective) and Somya Jain (Research Fellow, Disability Inclusion & Access) for their inputs on the project. Damini Ghosh (Team Lead, Disability, Inclusion & Access at Vidhi) and Prof. Sanjay Kanvinde (Senior Partner, Kanvinde Rai & Chowdhury) for peer-reviewing the Handbook and providing their invaluable feedback. Over the months of February and March 2024, four round-table consultations were held with experts from various fields, on the following themes covered in the Handbook: Institutional capacity building; Making District Courts safe, secure and comfortable; Incorporating Universal Design Principles; and Facilitating efficient and future-ready Court Complexes. The authors would like to thank the following participants for their inputs during the sessions: Justice (retd.) Ponugoti Naveen Rao (former acting Chief Justice at Telangana High Court), Prof. Jyoti Dogra (Professor at Indian Law Institute), Dr. Sheila Ramaswamy (Technical & Operational Lead at NIMHANS), Ms. Arushi Anthwal (Legal Counsel at Counsel to Secure Justice), Ms. Kushi Kushalappa (Director, Support & Rehabilitation at Enfold India), Ms. Shirisha Reddy (Program Manager at Nyaaya Kannada), Mr. Amar Jain (co-founder at Mission Accessibility), Ms. Anita Iyer Narayan (Managing Trustee, sponsor and volunteer at Ekansh Trust), Prof. Gaurav Raheja (Professor Incharge, Inclusion & Accessibility Services at IIT Roorkee), Ms. Nivedita Krishna (founder-director at PACTA), Ms. Pooja Sastry (PhD candidate in architectural history at University College, Dublin), Ms. Shruti Dixit (practising lawyer in Lucknow), Mr. Akshay Jain (Assistant Program Manager at National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People), Mr. Rahul Bajaj (co-founder at Mission Accessibility) and Mr. R. Sri Kumar (former Head of Police Force in Karnataka and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner). The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy is an independent think-tank doing legal research to make better laws and improve governance for the public good. The JALDI Initiative is a multi-year initiative that aims to advocate for and implement evidence-based reforms to eliminate the existing backlog in Courts and ensure that cases are disposed within reasonable timelines. This report is under the aegis of JALDI Innovation Lab, a multi-disciplinary collaborative of experts to design solutions for the justice delivery systems in India. Errors, if any, rest with the authors. Contact us at jaldi@vidhilegalpolicy.in

Sub Project Title

Design Guide for User-Centric Court Complexes

design

law

Jaldi Lab Aspect Title

Design

Design

Design-thinking and architecture to transform how accessing justice looks and feels

Jaldi Lab Aspect Title

Law

Law

Rules and policies to guide implementation of reforms in a fair, just and transparent manner.

Introducing the Court Design Handbook

Introducing the Court Design Handbook

Court Design Handbook: Reimagining Courts that meet the needs of all users

Court Design Handbook: Reimagining Courts that meet the needs of all users

Designing Justice: Introducing JALDI's New Video Series

Designing Justice: Introducing JALDI's New Video Series

Designing Justice: Interview with Anchal Bhateja

Designing Justice: Interview with Anchal Bhateja

Introduction to the series

Introduction to the series

How can we improve e-Filing in courts?

How can we improve e-Filing in courts?

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‘List of Permanent Committees at Chandigarh High Court’

p. 6.

For example, the GSICC directed the installation of automatic sanitary napkin vending machines at the Chandigarh High Court and District Courts under its jurisdiction. ’

Rights of Persons with Disabilities, section 39.

Familiarity with the VWDC guidelines and design considerations arising from the POCSO Act (

PART C, Section 2.1.B

Trauma-informed design considerations for Vulnerable Witnesses (

PART C, Section 2.3.A

Family and child-friendly facilities including provision of crèche/daycare facilities, children’s feeding room/nap room, and family washrooms (

PART C, Section 3.3

Design of indoor environments for young children including need for quiet rooms and sensory rooms, child-friendly signage, etc., (

PART C, Section 3.6

); and

Need for provision for Prayer room (

PART C, Section 3.5

Building awareness of security protocols, including managing threats, violence, terrorism, etc., including training on the technological measures used for managing security;

Building awareness of the fire and emergency evacuation procedures and rules, including accessible requirements for emergency evacuation;

Sharing of information on nearest available resources such as hospitals, police stations, fire station, ambulance service, etc., needed in times of emergency with all user groups; and

Practice of regular building evacuation drills for all users.

New technological advancements in e-Courts management implemented in the Courtrooms and detention facilities, for remote hearings, video conferencing, etc.;

Systems and procedures for e-filing;

Digital document/records management systems using latest technologies, access and privacy policies;

Evidence room management systems and procedures including e-evidence management (

PART C, Section 2.9.D

Policies for sustainable building practices and use of the Building Management System (

Sections 2.3 & 2.5

Operations of building services equipment and procedures, and site maintenance procedures;

Management and upkeep of the wayfinding and information systems (

Section 4.2

Operations of security and emergency response equipment; and

Grievance redressal management.

PART D - IMPLEMENTATION, MONITORING & EVALUATION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING

Institutional capacity building and training helps to highlight the role of all Judicial Officers, lawyers and Court officials in ensuring equal access to justice for all genders, abilities and age groups at every stage of the judicial process. To promote a user-centric design for District Courts, specific training sessions for institutional capacity building must be conducted. The following training and capacity building programs and initiatives will equip the Judicial Officers, lawyers and Court staff with the ability to manage judicial infrastructure, both physical and digital, to ensure that they are accessible, equitable, safe, comfortable, efficient, adaptable and sustainable for all users.

5.1.

Sensitisation Programs

For each District Court, a plan of action should be put in place to train Advocates, Judicial Officers and staff to interact with the litigants and general public engaging with the justice system. This is necessary to ensure that they are empathetic and responsive to the needs of diverse users including vulnerable persons. Such programs are key to ensuring that the diverse users feel comfortable engaging with the officials and any concerns raised are adequately addressed.

A plan may also be put in place to ensure that the service providers, police officials, etc., interacting with the diverse users, are adequately trained and sensitised.

The following sensitisation programs may be conducted:

A. Gender Sensitisation

It is essential to undertake training related to gender-responsive administration and infrastructure management to promote gender equality, and to ensure non-discrimination towards all users. The programs should seek to dismantle gender biases and create awareness about gender-related issues concerning all users of the Court Complex. Gender sensitisation programs should be conducted with an integrated and interdisciplinary approach. In creating the programs, the social and cultural nuances of all genders which shape the experiences of people in the local social context of the specific District Courts must be understood.

For example, the Chandigarh High Court’s Gender Sensitisation Committee, has constituted a Gender Sensitisation & Internal Complaints Committee (“GSICC”)

which conducts gender sensitization programmes and manages workplace gender issues to safeguard the constitutional and legal rights of women.

A similar Committee involving the Court Complex operations and management personnel should be formed and entrusted with the task of conducting workshops to sensitise staff, maintenance teams, and designers on gender equality concerns and accessibility needs of all users.

B. Accessibility Sensitisation

To combat the ingrained biases and misconceptions regarding accessibility, comprehensive training programs should be undertaken aimed at sensitising Court personnel, Judges, lawyers, and security staff about the rights and needs of Persons with Disabilities. The programs should aim to cultivate a more profound comprehension of the rights and requirements of Persons with Disabilities, highlighting the importance of equitable treatment and dispelling common misconceptions and stereotypes that obstruct their access to justice. It is also necessary to undertake sensitisation programs which go beyond the general understanding of disabilities, and take into account more nuanced visible and non-invisible disabilities that may affect diverse user groups.

Furthermore, these programs should be designed to promote a culture of inclusivity and sensitivity within the Court system, fostering trust and confidence among Persons with Disabilities and ensuring seamless interactions with the legal system.

Adequate SoPs must be formulated under the Accessibility Plan to account for the training programmes (

Section 3.1

For example, sensitivity to the need for making all spaces of the Court Complex universally accessible, provision of unisex and accessible washrooms, or the need for designing the waiting areas for all users including provision of play areas for children must be built into the training programs.

C. Vulnerable Groups Sensitisation

Special sensitisation sessions should be undertaken on the requirements of vulnerable groups and the need to design spaces for their comfort and easy access. Specialised medical and design experts should be invited to inform these designs.

For example, to ensure accessible design, training sessions must include the following:

5.2.

Security and Emergency Risks

To maintain security and ensure timely management of emergency risks, the management, staff and security personnel should undergo regular training and capacity building programmes to respond to disasters or security risks. For further details, please refer to

Section 2.6 & 4.1

The training and capacity building programmes should incorporate the following:

5.3.

Operations and Management of Infrastructure

In the absence of a Facility Management Agency, the Court Managers and in-house maintenance staff should undergo specific training on the operations and management of the building services and infrastructure. Awareness of the procedures for operating certain Court functions and training for managing the building services include the following:

References

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