CLASS TEST 2-SSL

ANAND AMIT
1261-8B

In the wake of this nationwide lockdown, what do you think would be the
use and effectiveness of technology in the legislative, executive and judicial
processes? Analyse the effectiveness, prospects of misuse and need for
regulations in place. (Illustratively ordinances mooted or laws drafted and
passed without the legislators physically present in the Assembly, use of
drones in crowd control and violations of human rights, courts adjudicating
through video conferencing etc.)

Answer

As Bob Young noted in a 2017 article for Law Practice Today, “A law firm is
no different from any other kind of business. If we’re not serving our clients in
ways they need, they will look elsewhere”. This is a crucial thing to keep in
mind we might see ourselves differently than other service providers, but
our clients don’t.

Usage of Technology by the Indian Legislature

Reaching out to the Opposition amid the ongoing country-wide lockdown
due to coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with floor
leaders of various parties via a video conference on April 8.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Saturday that floor
leaders of all those parties which have a combined strength of more than
five MPs in both houses of parliament will be part of the discussion with the
prime minister on Wednesday at 11 AM.
This will be the first interaction of the prime minister with leaders of
opposition after announcing the countrywide lockdown for 21 days on
March 24. However, he had interacted with chief ministers, including of
states ruled by non-NDA parties, on April 2 on the issue of tackling
coronavirus outbreak.
Joshi along with Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram
Meghwal have been assigned to coordinate the meeting.
The strategy to fight Covid-19 pandemic including the lockdown is expected
to dominate the discussion of leaders of various parties with Modi.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Congress and
floor leaders of TMC, BSP, DMK, BJD, TRS as well as various other parties
have been invited for the meeting.
However, Trinamool Congress sources said their leaders Derek O' Brien and
Sudip Bandyopadhyay are unlikely to attend the interaction.
"TMC will not attend the meeting. We have been seeking a discussion in
Parliament and an all-party meeting over Covid-19 since early March but it
was never called. Now why (call a meeting)? (For) Photo op?" said a senior
leader of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
Floor leaders of various NDA partners will also be part of the meeting.
Leaders of all parties will be given an opportunity to share their views and
give suggestions on the fight against Covid-19.
According to government sources, Prime Minister is expected to discuss with
the leaders the prevailing situation in the country in wake of Covid-19 and
seek their cooperation.
He is also likely to share the details of the various measures and actions
taken by the government to tackle Covid-19 and the relief package
announced in this regard.
The sources said senior BJP leaders and Union Ministers Amit Shah and
Rajnath Singh are also expected to be part of the meeting.

Usage of Technology by the Executives in India-The Police and other

Agencies
Technology, in a very real sense, is transforming policing in fundamental
respects. New technological innovations have been developed to prevent
crime and to improve the performance of the police. New and emerging
technologies are playing an increasingly crucial role in the daily work of
frontline police officers, equipping them with enforcement and investigative
tools that have the potential to make them better informed and more
effective. Potent challenge before the police is that of technological
innovation. Technological progress in the police has made incremental
progress and the necessity to bridge the technological gap cannot be
overlooked. The police in India need to foster a technological revolution
making full use of the several technological innovations employed by police
forces in other parts of the world. There are two general types of
technological innovations that can be identified: information-based
technologies (which can be identified as soft technology) and material-based
technologies (which can be identified as hard technologies). Both types of
technological innovation have been providing the unforeseen changes in the
organization of police. A representative list of new technological tools which
are used worldwide are discussed below, separating hard material based
technological innovations from soft information based innovations.
Police forces across the country are deploying a new anti-crime weapon in
their armoury—to fight the coronavirus. Whether in Nizamuddin, Delhi,
where thousands gathered for a religious event, or in Etawah, Uttar
Pradesh, police forces are increasingly turning to drones or unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) to surveil populations and prevent the buildup of crowds
during the three-week lockdown.
“It has become a regular part of policing. In the current lockdown, we are
flying drones over places where we suspect violations of the lockdown can
occur. We identify those places and ensure that police is deployed and those
who violate the lockdown are booked. It is a great tool in situations where
physical contact is to be avoided or minimized," said Akash Tomar, senior
superintendent of police, Etawah district, which has three drones. He said
the UP police had used UAVs during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act
protests as well.
In the national capital, police now rely on drones as a key surveillance
instrument to keep tabs on people’s movement during the lockdown. Drones
were used in the Nizamuddin Markaz late in March to identify spots where
the Tablighi Jamaat attendees had been staying in order to sanitize and seal
those areas.
“Drones are being used for monitoring purposes. Pickets have been set up
along main roads and other arterial carriageways. But there are reports we
get of citizens defying the lockdown. The police can’t be everywhere, so
remote monitoring is also needed. We have also requested resident welfare
associations (RWAs) to keep a close vigil," said a senior Delhi police officer,
who did not wish to be identified.
Delhi police had also used drones in the Chand Bagh, Karawal Nagar and
Shiv Vihar areas to identify houses where arms used in the recent riots had
allegedly been stored.
The Uttar Pradesh police has begun to employ drones to monitor activity in
the Gautam Buddh Nagar district and check the spread of the coronavirus.
“Drones give us a bird’s eye view of who is defying the lockdown in the
narrow alleys and lanes where a PCR van cannot go in. We have repeatedly
appealed to citizens to stay in, but despite that, many are defying the
lockdown," said a senior UP police official, who did not wish to be named.
Delivering medical supplies to hot spots and disinfecting public spaces
using sprayers without risk of contamination for personnel are among other
uses of drones, according to Mahesh Makhija, partner and leader of digital
and emerging technology at EY India. "Drones backed by advanced analytics
can play a vital role in the containment of the virus in India. Obviously this
also raises significant concerns related to citizen privacy. A balance will need
to be struck within a robust framework that recognizes citizen rights while
seeking community welfare," said Makhija.

Usage of Technology by the Indian Judiciary

The Chairperson of the Supreme Court E-Committee, Justice DY
Chandrachud interacted with the Chairpersons of the Computer Committees
of High Courts, to review the measures taken for hearing urgent cases
promptly during the lockdown in place due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Chairpersons shared with the participants the steps taken and the
challenges faced in their states. Notably, the participants also agreed with
the suggestion by Justice Chandrachud that the use of technology must be
institutionalised even after the lockdown is lifted and normalcy returns.
Other highlights of the meeting include the following. Justice Chandrachud
informed the participants about an e-filing module which is in an advanced
stage of development in the Supreme Court. An e-filing module has been
developed for trial courts. It was agreed that E-filing in such modes as may
be practicable may be used during the period of lock down.
The question of live streaming of proceedings held by video conferencing was
also discussed. Based on an assessment of technical issues like availability
of sufficient bandwidth and facilities of hosting the proceedings on dedicated
servers, it was felt that the recordings should be hosted on court web-sites
by the next day. This will ensure that people have access to court
proceedings.
It was noticed that virtual courts were functioning only in a few states
though software has been provided to all states by the NIC team at Pune.
The urgent need to start virtual courts, not only for traffic challans but also
for promptly dealing with summary violations was emphasized. Dr Justice
Chandrachud suggested that that the High Courts may use the unutilised
funds from Phase II of the E-courts project for meeting immediate needs
while observing financial norms. He assured that demands for funds or
software will be promptly processed by the E-committee and submitted to
the Department of Justice. Justice Chandrachud placed on record his
appreciation of the efforts undertaken by officials of all courts under the
guidance of the Chairpersons of the Computer committees of the High
Courts. Chairpersons agreed that they would promptly start working on the
lines decided.

MISUSE OF TECHNOLOGY AMIDST LOCKDOWN

The country's national cyber security agency has cautioned against threats
to personal mobile phones from "spyware and ransomware" due to an
increased usage of these Internet-enabled devices in the wake of restrictions
on physical movement to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), the federal
agency to combat cyber-attacks to guard the Indian cyber space, has issued
a fresh advisory with over a dozen suggestions to keep personal mobile
phones healthy and secure.
"The current global health situation has seen changes to the way people
accomplish their regular job, with an increasing number working from home
instead of office. Cyber criminals are attempting to take advantage of the
COVID-19 pandemic and are now turning their attention to mobile devices
to spread malware, including spyware and ransomware," the agency said.
Mobile devices and apps (applications) must be appropriately secured to
prevent sensitive data from being lost or compromised, to reduce the risk of
spreading viruses, and to mitigate other forms of abuse.
A spyware steals sensitive personal data of a user while a ransomware takes
control over login and other vital credentials of an individual and only
releases them after money is paid to it through dubious online transactions.
The agency suggested certain counter-measures and healthy practices:
OS and apps update-Mobile operating systems like Apple's iOS, Google's
Android platform and Microsoft's Windows phone provide regular updates to
users that resolve security vulnerabilities and other mobile security threats,
as well as provide additional security and performance options and features
to users, it said. The advisory also recommends keeping app software up to
date.
 CLASS TEST 3-SSL

In these testing times what do you think would be the best possible use of
technology in legal education without compromising on access, quality and
effectiveness of pedagogy in the teaching-learning process? Elaborate.

ANSWER

Technology has been the linchpin of development in 21st Century. With the
rapid advancement of technology, the world has realised the power of
Internet and devices which make life easy for people.
In today’s scenario, with internet access available to nearly every citizen of
this country, all thanks to the pot-bellied gentleman who can even bail-out
the lords in financial crisis, the source of information and those who provide
these information are just a click away. There are several social media
applications and several other apps which has brought everyone closer than
ever, and has virtually reduced thousands of miles to just one video call
away.
With the outbreak of this deadly epidemic and the same being declared as
pandemic by the WHO, has brought the world to a standstill. With no
movement around, the possibilities of technological penetration in strictly
human oriented professions like lawyering, classroom teaching and a few
others are being explored.
Educational technology is a systematic and organized process of applying
modern technology to improve the quality of education (efficiency, optimal,
true, etc.). It is a systematic way of conceptualizing the execution and
evaluation of the educational process, i. e. learning and teaching and help
with the application of modern educational teaching techniques. It includes
instructional materials, methods and organization of work and
relationships, i.e. the behaviour of all participants in the educational
process. The term “teaching resources” is commonly used, although they are
not synonymous. The word technology is derived from the Greek word
“techno” which means the willingness, skills, knowledge of the way, rule,
skill, tools and “logos” which means science, word, learning, mental state.
There is no single term for educational technology. Different countries use
different terms and synonyms as educational technology, educational
equipment.
Terminological differences mostly occur on the grounds of the approach to
the technical characteristics and the use of modern appliances, and not
their actual application in teaching i.e. their actual pedagogical application.
For this reason, there are different opinions among teachers in the field of
social and technical sciences. Therefore, the application of educational
technology requires knowledge from several areas: pedagogy, psychology,
didactics, computer sciences and informatics.
Because of this diversity, there are also different perceptions of educational
technology, where every author defines the concept of educational
technology, according to their needs. Educational technology is still not
being applied sufficiently, mostly for reasons of lack of school equipment
necessary resources and insufficient qualification of teachers for the
implementation of these funds.
In the field of law, courts have decided to go online, with court proceedings
being held online. Filing of cases are being done online too, to reduce the
burdensome process of filing through counters. In the field of education
classes are being conducted online by several universities including those
which hold the prominence of being called as the best university in world. In
India University like Delhi University has been vociferous in imparting
education through medium of online class.

Advantages of usage of technology in imparting knowledge and education

E-learning has many advantages. With the combination of a well-organised

e-learning system and a highly motivated student, one can achieve great
success in a short period of time. Some of the major advantages of e-
learning are listed below:
a. Convenient for students: E-learning materials are self-placed and
can be accessed any time the learner wants. They do not require the
learner to be physically present in a classroom. Students can also
 download and save the learning materials for future purposes from
the system.
b. Lower cost: E-learning is usually a cost-efficient way of learning for
most students as they can choose from a large range of courses and
make the selection depending on their needs. It can also be cost-
efficient for many universities because once the learning platforms are
set up, they can be reused for many sessions.
c. Up-to-date learning materials: The study materials in e-learning
systems can be updated more frequently than in the classroom-based
education systems. Once the study materials are placed in the system,
they can be updated without changing the whole materials and the
materials can be available and reused for longer times.
d. Flexible way of learning: E-learning is a flexible way of learning for
many students. Most of the study materials are stored for the
students to access whenever they want. Students can also choose
between an instructor-led and a self-learning system. In e-learning
systems it is also possible for students to skip over the study
materials they already know and choose the ones they want to learn.
e. World-wide learning society: E-learning systems help in creating a
worldwide learning society as anyone can access the study materials
regardless of the geographical location. In the systems available now
learners can also contribute to the study materials, which helps to
keep the materials updated. 8
f. Scalable e-learning systems: The number of students in virtual
classes or e-learning systems can be very few or really high without
causing any significant difference in the total cost.
g. Higher degree of freedom for students: One may find it difficult at
times to learn new ideas. E-learning systems provide the possibility for
students to learn the same material repeatedly until they are satisfied.
h. Better retention: The video and audio materials used in e-learning
make the whole learning process more fun. This will help students to
remember the things they learn for a long period of time. E-learning
 materials can also be accessed whenever wanted, thus the repetition
makes the retention easier.

Challenges to the Legal Education in the era of Information and

Communication Technology
Globalization is the consequence of the interdependence amongst nations in
the context of economic dependence. Economic interdependence among
nations can be traced back to ancient history, even to the beginning of
mankind. Yet the degree of interdependence and the sphere thereof is very
much different in 21st century. Globalization means strategically developed
world where boundaries of countries do not matter for the movement of
commodities, services, capital, finances, technology and information. This
strategy has converted the entire world into a global village. The backbone is
the ever evolving Information and Communication Technology. This growth
in globalization and free economy has given rise to basket of problems before
legal luminaries i.e. lawyers, judges, magistrates, law professors and
administrators.
The sphinx to legal education is reflected where a galaxy of legal luminaries
are not able to bring the cyberspace or the world of electronic-magnetic into
the clutches of the law and within the ambit of legal education. The new
millennium has dawned an environment of computerization in which
electronic media, internet, foreign investment, mergers, acquisitions, e-
commerce, e-banking, M-commerce, Blue-Commerce has become part and
parcel of our lives. New methods of committing frauds, cheating, cyber
defamation, pornography, computer crimes, cybercrimes, cyber terrorism,
transnational organized crimes, white-collar crimes, frauds relating to
intellectual property like copyright, patents, domain names, copy theft etc.,
have come into existence. Let us visualize the situation of a novice lawyer in
the galaxy of this newly born e-crimes were even laws are at a nascent stage
and implementation of law is merely a formality. The need of the hour is
adequate and skilful law in the area of information technology. There are
some prominent questions before legal education providers: (1) Can we say
no to the benefits of Information and Communication Technology? (2) Can
we deny our entrance into the cyberspace or e-world? (3) Is the education of
law adequate to keep cyberspace in the protected palm of the law? The
obvious answer is that we cannot say no to the achievements and the fruits
of the cyber space. The answer to the third question is the greatest challenge
before the whole world. The nature of cyberspace and the internet is an open
system of communication and interaction. Since the computerized
environment is more process based than personalization, it thus becomes,
necessary to have an environment of integration, confidentiality and
authentication of communication.
Cyber law is the domain at the intersection of technology, networking and
law for checking risks. Cyber law is the area of law dealing with the use of
computers and the internet. To check the cyber offenses, India has only one
enactment namely the Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended in
2008. In order to pave the way for the development of e-commerce and
internationally acceptable level of legal uniformity and compatibility of rules
and practices, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
(UNCITRAL) established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996,
adopted the Model Law of Electronic Commerce in 1966. It intended to
facilitate the use of EDI, e-mail, telegram, telex or telegraphy, etc., by
providing standards by which their legal value can be assessed. The
UNCITRAL Model Law, 1996 has seventeen Articles that cover different
functions performed by the parties for transacting trade and commerce in
the paper based business. The Model Law, 1996 as adopted by U.N. General
Assembly on January 1997 provides the broad framework on the basis of
which the member nations are expected to formulate their cyber laws and
regulations for a synchronized approach towards the legal framework of
electronic commerce. In order to protect interests of the consumers, it has
been provided that this law does not override any rule of law intended for
the protection of consumers. A legal instrument that is particularly geared
toward the ‘harmonization’ of democratic trade law is an UNCITRAL’s Model
Law concept. The Model Law creates a legal framework for the individual
states to follow when adopting new trade laws or modifying the existing
laws.
Way Forward
The law schools of the future ought to provide academic space for engaging
in teaching and cutting edge research on issues of global significance. A
significant focus should be on developing the curriculum so that it meets
the contemporary demands for legal services, recruitment of competent and
committed faculty, establishing research and training centers, necessary
financial support from the state, and creating necessary infrastructure,
especially a well-endowed library. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan some
decades ago wrote: "Our Colleges of law do not hold a place of high esteems
either at home or abroad, nor has law become an area of profound
scholarship or enlightened research".
But today we have travelled a long distance since then, altering the
landscape of legal education in our country. We are just marginally away
from the profound scholarship and enlightened research. The need of hour
is to stress on transactional law training & clinical legal education. The
curriculum in the National Law Universities should be more inclusive of
social problems of India with the students being made to solve real time
typical social problems (Bansal, 2015). For continuous legal educations of
legal professionals, National Law School of India University, Bangalore, has
established a Chair on Continuing Legal Education with support from the
International Bar Association, the Ford Foundation and the Menon Institute
of Legal Advocacy Training under the guidance of Hon’ble prof. Madhav
Menon to help professional development of legal professionals & law
teachers. This is a great initiative for elevation of the standard of legal
profession in India. A concerted action on the part of Bar the Bench and the
law teachers is called for to improve the deteriorating standards of legal
education (Anand, 1998). Globalization affords space for re-examining
higher education systems by affording opportunity for establishing global
universities with international collaborations and programs (Kumar, 2013).
Further, the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 which propose for
setting up of a National Commission for Higher Education and Research
(NCHER) for determination, coordination and maintenance of standards and
promotion of higher education and research, including university education,
vocational, technical and professional education has raised the expectation
of reforms in legal education. On the other hand, the Foreign Educational
Service Providers’ Bill as amended in 2013 may induce some world famous
universities to set up their own campuses in India or enter into twinning
arrangements compelling structural and functional changes in the delivery
of education in other law teaching institutions.

Conclusion
There is certainly total flexibility in legal education research methods as new
technology evolves. However, the same technology has setbacks as well.
Though empirical testing of the impact of technology in legal education has
not been undertaken, the cornerstone of legal education is technology.
Today, sophisticated technology has gotten into court rooms in presenting
evidence such as in the form of “images, graphs, animals, and other visual
aids,” thus; a research study on whether new technological opportunities
result in new ways of thinking about the law or social justice is important to
supplement the existing literature. Such an empirical study should include
a larger population perhaps incorporating common, civil, and hybrid legal
systems.