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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Design Considerations

The room must be provided with ergonomic furniture including a desk, a seating area, along with space to keep personal belongings, and adequate storage facilities for at least one day’s worth of case files.

Additional facilities to accommodate the various roles and responsibilities of the Registrar must be provided, as required.

The room should be in close proximity to or must have additional space for a Personal secretary, as required.

In such instances, where other staff members are associated with the office of the Registrar, they must have an office in close proximity to the Registrar’s Chamber. For further details for the layout of a Multi-Person Workspace, please refer to

Figure 52

The term Shirestedar is used in Courts under the jurisdiction of the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court and the Ahlmad in the Courts under the jurisdiction of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court. The term varies further from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, for the purpose of this Handbook, the term “Shirestedar” or “Clerk” has been used.

Model Live Streaming Rules, section 3

Shelving: fixed lateral shelving, hanging open-box files, movable lateral shelving, vertical drawer filing, and mechanised filing;

Specialised filing equipment and supplies: card-filing equipment, top or open reference files, file folders and supports; and

Computer-product-filing equipment: for printouts, tapes, disks, platter, and microfilm-filing equipment.

PART C - THE HANDBOOK

ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN OF SPACES OF THE COURT COMPLEX

2.5.

Administrative Wing

B. Office Spaces (Single Workspace)

I. Registrar’s/Administrative Officer’s Chamber

The Registrar's/Administrative Officer’s Chamber serves as the office of the Court registrar or of an equivalent Administrative Officer, who is responsible for managing Court records, supervising administrative staff, and undertaking other administrative functions. The Chamber must be located in close proximity to staircases, lifts, and ramps, as well as the office of Assistant Registrar (where applicable).

II. Court Clerk/Shirestedar Room

The Court Clerk Room refers to the space to be provided for the shirestedars/ahlmads, i.e., the officers attached to each Courtroom.

These clerks are responsible for monitoring all pending case files of a particular day which are to be moved between the Courtroom and the pending branch, as well as other administrative functions with regard to case management, as may be deemed necessary by the Judge.

The space provided must ensure that the clerks have adequate space for their personal belongings, seating arrangements, and storage space for case files. The room must have direct access to the Courtroom, pending branch, and the common public corridor.

Figure 51: Typical floor plan for a 1-Person Office Space

C. Office Spaces (Multi-Person Workspace)

I. Office for Registrar’s Staff

These offices cater to the administrative needs of the Registrar and Assistant Registrar (where applicable). The staff are responsible for smooth coordination with other administrative offices.

II. Summons Office and Process Server Room

The summons office (also called the nazar branch in some Courts) refers to the space required for undertaking functions relating to the service of summons, including generating, signing and storing, and allocation to various process servers who ultimately deliver the summons to parties as required.

The nazar branch must have provisions for both physical summons and online modes of service, including N-STEP as well as other digital means. Adequate IT infrastructure must be provided.

An additional room must be provided within this space for process servers to rest while they are not being required to deliver summons. This area may also be equipped with a small pantry and must have storage space for their personal belongings.

III. Accounts Section

The accounts department handles financial matters and budgeting for the Court. The area must be organised to accommodate all staff, and may be located in proximity to the Registrar’s chamber.

The confidentiality of financial records and transactions must be maintained. For further details, refer to

PART D, Section 4.2

IV. Computer Section

The computer section refers to the space allocated for the Computer Committee and other technical staff employed by the Court, including the Central Project Coordinator appointed under the e-Courts project. The room may be in proximity to the filing section and copying/dispatch section for effective coordination.

Accessible information and data systems, as well as telecommunication requirements, must be provided. Additionally, the computer section must have adequate, ergonomic, and accessible desks and workstations for all staff, and adequate storage space for their personal belongings.

V. Digitisation Room

The digitisation room is dedicated to converting physical Court documents into digital formats. This includes the digitisation of incoming files, pending files on a priority basis in accordance with the rules developed by each Court, and of disposed cases. The digitisation room may be in proximity to the filing section, the pending branch, and the record room for effective coordination.

Adequate, accessible IT support infrastructure, including high-quality scanning systems, must be provided. Additionally, the digitisation room must have adequate working space for all staff, and adequate storage space for their personal belongings.

VI. Command & Control Centre

This area serves as the control centre in instances of emergency and evacuations. It aggregates all the ICT subsystems of the Court Complex including all the security operations being undertaken. The space must be continuously manned with adequate security provisions. For further details, refer to

Annexure 3

. Provisions must be made for adequate comfortable seating for all users.

A secure, temperature controlled Server/Telecommunication Room must also be provided in direct connection or close proximity to the Command & Control Centre, to accommodate all IT Services including, inter alia, Networking, Data, IP Camera system including Video recording, Building Management Systems, etc.

VII. Dedicated Control Room

The Model Rules for Live Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings, adopted by the eCommittee of the Supreme Court on 13 September 2022, mandate a Dedicated Control Room (DCR) to be set up in each Court.

The DCR is responsible for monitoring and tracking proceedings as they are live streamed, recorded, and transcribed, in accordance with the rules adopted by the Court. The DCR must be manned by Court officers, technical and video-recording experts, under the direct supervision of the Registrar (IT) or their nominees.

Additionally, the Model Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts requires certain technical support persons to be tasked with ensuring seamless video conferencing. The technical team associated with the DCR may also be tasked with facilitating the same.

Table 9:

Functions to be coordinated from the Dedicated Control Room

Section No.

Section Title

Section Relevant Details

Model Live Streaming Rules

S. 3.

Requisitioning and Positioning of Human Resources

3.2.

The DCR shall, inter alia, comprise an officer of the Court, technical and video- recording experts. The DCR will monitor and track proceedings as they are live streamed, recorded, and transcribed. The DCR shall ensure that nothing uncivil or inappropriate is streamed in the public domain.

Adequate technology must be provided to facilitate and monitor the recording and broadcast (where necessary) of the proceedings. Adequate space must be provided for the personnel hired to monitor the same.

S. 10.

Transcription and Access

10.1.

Transcripts shall be prepared of recordings only when directed by the Court. 10.2. The transcripts may be translated into other scheduled languages. 10.3. Recordings that are uploaded will be made accessible for differently abled persons

Adequate tools must be incorporated for live transcription of the recordings.

Model Video Conferencing Rules

S.8.

Examination of persons

8.15.

Where a Required Person is not capable of reaching the Court Point or the Remote Point due to sickness or physical infirmity, or presence of the required person cannot be secured without undue delay or expense, the Court may authorize the conduct of video conferencing from the place at which such person is located. In such circumstances the Court may direct the use of portable video conferencing systems

Portable video conferencing systems may be used in specific circumstances and must be provided for.

VIII. Housekeeping Office/Office for Other Staff

This area serves as the office for housekeeping staff and other support personnel. Seating area must be provided, and the room may be equipped with a small pantry. Adequate storage space must be provided for housekeeping supplies and equipment, as well as the personal belongings of the staff.

Figure 52: Typical floor plan for a 6-Person Office Space

References

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