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Sitting in judgment: Issues and solutions for efficient judgment delivery
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Civil litigation in India is hampered by outdated court practices, unchecked frivolous litigations, and frequent adjournments, making the system unsuited for the 21st Century. The judicial system requires a significant overhaul to modernise and streamline processes. The Civil Rules of Practice (CRP) promulgated by each High Court combined with the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC), govern civil litigation practice in district courts of India. While amendments to CPC, a centralised legislation will take considerable time and effort, the state level CRP can and should be modernised on a priority basis. In most states these rules are outdated and obstructive to modern technology integration. Objective: In order to develop a model CRP adaptable in any district court, there is a need to question the existing processes and reimagine the civil litigation system as a whole. This is to ensure that the model rules are comprehensive, forward-looking, and responsive to the latest technological developments. Through this series the team also aims to: Create a knowledge repository on civil litigation processes Encourage judicial innovation and technology integration Promote interdisciplinary collaboration for effective process re-engineering Approach: The lifecycle of a case involves various stages before the case is resolved and each of these stages has a specific purpose. Hence, it is important to comprehensively understand each stage, determine the requirements of all the stakeholders, and ascertain which of these requirements are currently being ignored through textual analysis and field visits. Multiple redesigned scenarios are presented which encourage innovation and adoption of technology. Judgment and decree: This paper, last in the consultation series, seeks to identify the reasons for delay in pronouncement of judgments and offer procedural, technological and personnel-related solutions for the same. This consultation series seeks to reach out to diverse audiences ranging from judges, lawyers, and law students to technology developers, designers, process experts etc. in order to innovate and collaborate towards the betterment of our civil litigation system. We are eager to hear your ideas and receive feedback on these papers. For the consultation papers released, please reach out to us here .
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Authors
Jyotika Randhawa
Senior Resident Fellow
At JALDI, I have worked on engagements with the National Court Management Systems’ Human Resource Sub-committee; and the Telangana State Judicial Academy (POCSO and Judicial Data Management training sessions). Other projects that I have worked on are Re-imagined Civil Rules of Practice (process re-engineering); Differentiated Case Management for the Indian Judiciary (case management, process re-engineering); and the Constitution Bench Pendency Portal (data analysis, assessing courts’ capacity). I have previously provided research assistance for the report ‘A Decade of POCSO: Developments, Challenges, and Insights from Judicial Data’ (assessing courts’ capacity). I have completed my B.A.LLB. from ILS Law College, Pune in 2020 and obtained my Master’s in Social Work in Criminology from Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 2022. My vision for the Indian judiciary entails a system that is accessible to all, down to the very vulnerable sections of the society. The judiciary must adopt a holistic approach and work in tandem with ancillary institutions such as legal aid clinics, social workers, and the Juvenile Justice System to be able implement effective justice. When not working, I enjoy reading, sketching and spending time with my cats.
Atishya Kumar
Former Research Fellow
Atishya Kumar was a research fellow at JALDI. At JALDI, she worked on the Lest We Forget Project, which resulted in a report on the performance of District Courts across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic; Re-imagined Civil Rules of Practice (process re-engineering); and a team engagement that she was a part of was with the National Court Management Systems’ Human Resource Sub-committee. She also frequently works on short pieces relating to gender diversity within the judicial system. She graduated with a B.A. LL.B (Hons.) from National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi in 2018 and an LLM in Human Rights Law from University of Nottingham in 2019, for which she was awarded the Developing Solutions Masters Scholarship. She has previously worked as a research consultant for government bodies-the National Human Rights Commission and Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice. She has also been a Director at Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA), a non-profit organisation, prior to joining JALDI. Her dream is for the Indian judiciary to be more inclusive in the years to come. As one of the core pillars of democracy, representation of the people that the judiciary seeks to serve is essential at all levels. To achieve this, the judiciary needs to make systemic changes that strike at the root cause of gender discrimination within the system.