Unit 3: Information technology and Legal Education

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Role of ICT in courts, application of ICT in court administration, E-courts, E-

litigation

Three themes that the Supreme Court judges have been discussing in recent
times: Fundamental rights enshrined under the Constitution, access to justice for
citizens of the country and use of modern technology in the time of Covid-19 and
after.

Access to justice: Article 21

One cannot deny the universal truth for existence of the court system: ‘The
interest of the litigant is supreme.’ In terms of Article 21, the legal fraternity
reflects this idea in the form of the concept of ‘Access to Justice’.

Only when access to justice is made available to the citizens through modern
technology is when the guardians of the Constitution can truly protect the
fundamental rights of the citizen.

E-litigation, Use of Technology in Judicial systems

Technological Developments in the field of information and introduction of

computers have made a turning point in the history of human civilization. It has
brought about a sea change in all fields of human activity. It has resulted in
enhanced efficiency, productivity, and quality of output in every walk of life.

Extensive use of Information Technology by diverse organizations the world over

has resulted in enhanced efficiency, effectiveness and optimal use of resources.
Computers as well as electronic communication modes such as electronic mail,
video conferencing etc provide the ability to process large volumes of data with
speed and accuracy, exchange of useful information between different locations
and support a higher quality of decision making. These capabilities have
contributed to more efficient and responsive systems not only in business
organizations but also in legal, governmental and other public systems.
While the Information Revolution arrived in India some years ago, automation has
not transformed all facets of life in equal measure. It has not permeated to the
Subordinate judiciary, in particular, resulting in old work methods based on
manual systems being continued even now. The enormous problems being faced
by the judiciary due to arrears, backlogs, and delays can be partly resolved by the
introduction of automation in subordinate courts.

The problems faced by courts, judiciary, and public seeking justice in terms of
backlogs, delays and expense are well known. While there are many dimensions
to these problems, improvements in operational efficiency, co-ordination,
accessibility and speed which IT could bring about can contribute significantly
towards improvement and alleviation of difficulties.

Most of the bottlenecks identified by Judicial Commissions and Committees

referring to delays, arrears and backlog can be partly overcome if a sound judicial
management information system is introduced in India. Case Management, File
Management, and Document Management will be vastly improved by resorting to
the use of computers.

Role of ICT in courts, application of ICT in court administration

Recently, there has been a tremendous interest in major initiatives in IT at the

national level. A task force set up by the Prime Minister has drawn up 108
recommendations with the objective of developing India into an “IT Superpower”.
Further, computer usage has made sufficient inroads into private as well as public
organizations in India. There are several visibly successful applications, be it in
railway reservations, passport applications or e-commerce or educational
institutions. The judiciary ought to take advantage of the new developments that
may enhance the delivery of judicial services.

Also, Indian software developers have been recognized internationally for their
talent in developing software for diverse applications. It is time that these talents
and experience be put to use in developing effective systems for the important
and public-sensitive domain of legal systems.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, when social distancing was the norm, hearings of
court cases through use of videoconferencing was conducted, thus, giving prompt
address and relief to the litigants. From a time when physical appearance of the
parties was thought of as a sine qua non for the disbursement of justice to the
contemporary times when the entire process of justice is being delivered in a
virtual mode, Indian courts have been receptive towards amalgamation of ICT in
courtrooms. There have been significant initiatives taken up by the Judiciary in
recent years to enable courtrooms to not just limit themselves to being a place,
but instead function as a service.

Modernising the Judiciary

The main business of the judiciary is to hear and determine cases in a fair and
timely manner at reasonable cost. In doing so, there are processes that lead to
the conclusion of the cases before the courts. These processes must be efficient,
effective, and equitable.

ICT has proved to be a useful tool in the following areas: (1) Text creation, storage
and retrieval; (2) Improved Access to the Law; (3) Case Management and
producing data for administrative purposes (4) Communication

1. Text Creation, Storage and Retrieval

Apart from careful hearing of arguments, judges have to produce written

judgments, orders, and reasons for the decisions that they continuously make.
After the advent of the typewriter, the judge often wrote decisions in long
hand, and the secretaries or typists would then type the same out in typescript.
But due to advancement of technology, it is now possible for the judge to type
out the decision directly on the computer. A judge is able to produce a decision
much faster that way. And because of the ability to edit/modify different
documents through copy, cut and paste, or working from templates, it is now
much easier to produce a document with the information you want included
into to. On the same computer or other storage medium, it is possible to store
the document, and retrieve it very fast, call up other documents, without
having to move from your work station. In the result judgments, decisions and
orders can be produced much faster in final form for release to the parties.
Simultaneously the said decisions, judgments or rulings can go into a court
system database to which judges and other people may have access should
they need to use the same for whatever purpose. ICT definitely makes
production and release of orders, judgments much more efficient than was
previously the case.
Today, most of the documents, applications, contracts in our case files are
generated on computers. This means that copies of the same are available
electronically as they are produced digitally. And even if they have been
produced manually, and only hard copies are available it is possible to scan
them and convert them into digital format. This creates an opportunity of
creating and maintaining and electronic copy of case file that would eliminate
problems of loss of the physical file. The courts have the capacity to acquire the
necessary hardware for this purpose. If an electronic version of the court file
was maintained, it would speed the cost of preparing a record for appeal
purposes, thus eliminating one of the bottlenecks to the speedy delivery of
justice.

2. Improved Access to the Law

In many jurisdictions, the law applicable is often found in different sources.

These include Statute Books for legislation; Law Reports for case laws etc. The
medium for storage of the legislation and case law was, previous to the advent
of the current information technology, only available through hard copy in
book form or printed or typescript.

It is now possible to keep both legislation and law reports, not only in hard
copy and book form, but also in digital format, in pen drives and other storage
media, online, making it much easier for a judge or member of the public to
search and obtain the provisions of the law or previous court decision that one
desires. With the use of the Internet, it is possible to seek for and obtain
comparative and persuasive jurisprudence from other jurisdictions while
seated at one’s work station. There are plenty of legal databases available
which provide legal information at national and even at international level
such as Westlaw, Lexis nexis, Hein Online, Manupatra etc

What makes the situation even much more promising is that document
production now is digital, making it easy to copy and distribute information at
very little cost. It is now possible therefore for the law to be available in an
easier, more convenient and more accessible format. It makes it simpler to
research and incorporate the results of the research into new documents
being produced. IT has the potential to tremendously improve access to the
law, and possibly both the quality and quantity of what they produce, thus
increasing both the efficiency and efficacy of their service.
(3) Case Management and producing data for administrative purposes

Case management is a comprehensive system of management of time and

events in a lawsuit as it proceeds to the justice delivery system from initiation
to resolution.

It is proposed to have a full-fledged portal which will have information on

Indian Judicial System. The portal can be utilized by the general public,
advocates, court officers, etc. The portal will contain information like details of
the structure of various courts in the country, history, functions, and role of
the judiciary. It will also contain an encyclopedia of digital version of legal
documents. The speeches of Hon'ble CJI, Hon'ble Judges, Judgments of the
Supreme Court of India and High Courts, the functions of E-Committee, Judicial
Academies, Legal Information, Law Libraries will be part of the website.

(4) Communication

ICT has played an important role in imparting legal education. It can also play a
significant role in communication between the courts and the litigants and
their pleaders. The Courts in India have, time and again, emphasized the
importance of using technology in justice delivery systems and have, wherever
practicable, allowed the use of technology in the interest of justice and equity.

Suitable amendments were also made in the applicable laws to consider

electronic evidence as a valid evidence.

This can be understood with the help of a few case laws-

Case law: In State of Maharashtra v. Dr. Praful Desai (2003)

This case relates to Section 338 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with
gross medical negligence resulting in the death of the patient. The prosecution
wanted to produce the statements of a New York Doctor, Dr. Greenberg as
evidence. The problem arose when Dr. Greenberg refused to appear in the
Indian Court to record his statements. There is no such provision which can
compel a witness residing outside the domestic territory of India to come to an
Indian court as a witness. Thus in such circumstances video conferencing
became the only viable option. But the accused opposed video conferencing
under Section 273 of Criminal Procedure Code which clearly says that evidence
 can be recorded only in the presence of the accused and “presence” means
physical presence in flesh and blood in open Court.

The Supreme Court interpreted presence not merely as physical presence but
as a situation in which the accused can see, hear and question the witnesses.
Law cannot stand still; it must change with the changing social concepts and
values.

Case law : All India Judges Association v Union of India (2002)

An independent and efficient judicial system is one of the basic structures of our
Constitution. If sufficient number of judges are not appointed, justice would not be
available to the people, thereby undermining the basic structure. It is well known that
justice delayed is justice denied. It is our constitutional obligation to ensure that the
backlog of the cases is decreased and efforts are made to increase the disposal of cases.

Electronic evidence: Considering the Both Sections 65A and 65B were inserted
through the Indian Evidence (Amendment) Act, 2000, and form part of Chapter V
of the Evidence Act, which deals with documentary evidence.

Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kishanrao Goratyal (2020)

In this case, the Court had to adjudicate on an election petition which challenged
the election of Mr. Arjun Panditrao Khotkar from Jalna-101 Legislative Assembly
Constituency, on the ground that the nomination papers were filed after the
stipulated deadline. The Respondents wished to rely on video camera recordings
to prove that the candidate had filed his nomination after the stipulated deadline.
The Election Commission produced CDs which contained a copy of the video
camera recordings, in accordance with the direction given by the High Court.
However, the necessary certificates were not produced in accordance with
Section 65B(4) by the Election Commission, despite multiple requests made by
the Petitioner.

During the cross examination, an officer of the Election Commission testified that
the video camera recordings were authentic. Based on this testimony, the High
Court admitted the evidence of the video recordings even though the certificate
in accordance with Section 65B (4) had not been produced. The High Court held
that it was satisfied that there was “substantial compliance” with Section 65B, as
a competent officer had testified that the video recordings were authentic.

The matter came up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that
production of a certificate shall not be necessary when the original electronic
record is produced. The original electronic record can be adduced directly as
evidence if the owner of the computer/tablet/mobile phone steps into the
witness box and establishes that the device where the information is first stored
is owned/operated by him.

Section 65B(1) differentiates between the ‘original’ electronic record, which is

contained in the computer in which the information is first stored – and the
secondary copies that are made from the primary electronic record. For instance,
in the present case, the original electronic record would be the computer of the
Election Commission in which the video footage is first stored. The CDs where the
content of the video recording is copied shall constitute the secondary copies of
the electronic record. It was held that a certificate under Section 65B(4) shall have
to be obtained only when the secondary copies of the electronic record are
produced before the Court.

However, Obtaining a certificate under Section 65B(4) shall be a condition

precedent in all situations where secondary copies of an electronic record are
produced.

Communication of summons through Whatsapp:

In the case of Indian Banks Association. v. Union of India, (2014) , the Supreme
Court had alerted the Magistrates about the need to adopt a pragmatic and
realistic approach while issuing process and had directed to issue summons by
post as well as by e-mail.

ICICI Bank Ltd. v. Rashmi Sharma, (2022 )

In the present petition, respondent (defendant) approached the plaintiff for grant
of a car loan cum hypothecation scheme of Rs 5,01,000 for the purchase of a
vehicle and the loan documents were executed and duly sanctioned to the
defendant on 21-11-2019. Later, the defendant defaulted in payments of monthly
instalments towards repayment of the loan and consequently issued a notice to
recall the loan facility available. Later, in August 2021, the plaintiff filed a
commercial suit for recovery against the defendant.

Summons were issued in the above-stated suit. The Bench noted that the plaintiff
had duly filed process fees and taken steps for issuance of regular summons to
the defendant through the ordinary process as well as speed post and the
photograph of summons were sent through whatsApp only as an additional
measure.

Thus, some of the benefits of ICT in the context of its use in courts are as
follows:

1. Cost-Effectiveness – Video conferencing between court authorities and

lawyers reduces the cost of travelling and accommodation of both the
litigants and lawyers.
2. Automation – In the context of Indian courts, lawyers can file their cases,
submit documents, receive and send notices, receive the next dates for
hearing and access the e-library all while sitting from the comfort of their
home, at any time of the day, week or month.
3. Bridging the Cultural Divide – Increased access to technology has helped in
decreasing the cultural divide by allowing individuals of other cultures to
communicate with each other and exchange their views and ideas. So
judges and lawyers can communicate their ideas and thoughts with each
other on the platform, irrespective of which part of India they are from or
which culture they belong to. This will help bridge the gap between
different jurisdictions of court.
4. Creation of New Jobs – The biggest benefit of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has been that it has created more
employment opportunities across the globe. Adoption of ICT in Indian
Courts will require the employment of skilled professionals to use and
maintain the servers. This will lead to the creation of more jobs and will
help reduce the unemployment problems in India.
5. More Resources for Judges and Lawyers – Inclusion of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) will help judges and lawyers to access the
e-library, online legal databases at any time of the day, week or month. This
will help them prepare for cases or judgments while not having to be
physically present in the court’s library room.
6. Witness Protection – Many witnesses who are unable to approach the
court to give their statements because of threats or danger to life can easily
give their statement through Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) because they wouldn’t have to be physically present in the court.
7. Increased Productivity – Implementation of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) in courts would increase the overall flow
of work and increase the efficiency of courts, thereby making it easier to
manage a large number of cases as well.
8. Storing of Crucial Information – Important records such as files, bail orders,
warrants and summons could be carefully stored in a computerized format
for quick future references which would decrease the chances of it getting
misplaced or manipulated.

E-governance in court procedure, E-courts need of present era, E-

Litigation

E-Courts

The e-Courts Project was conceptualized on the basis of the “National

Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted
by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India with a vision to transform the
Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.

The eCourts project is a Mission Mode Project (MMP), being implemented

by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the National e-Governance
Plan (NeGP). It was created with the objective of providing services to all
key stakeholders through ICT enablement and enhancing judicial
functioning. Under the project, a National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) has
been created to monitor pendency in the lower courts and to act as a case
information repository.

Objectives
 To provide efficient & time-bound citizen centric services.
 To develop, install & implement decision support systems in courts.
 To automate the processes to provide transparency in accessibility of
information to its stakeholders.
 To enhance judicial productivity, both qualitatively & quantitatively, to
make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost effective,
predictable, reliable and transparent.

Background of National policy for Implementation of ICT in judiciary

(i) Chief justice Conference 2004 :The genesis for the eCourts policy lies in the
Chief Justice’s Conference, held in September 2004, which endorsed a
proposal made by the then Chief Justice of India, R.C. Lahoti, to establish an
Information Technology and Judicial Reform Cell in the Supreme Court of
India. Later, the joint Conference of Chief Ministers of States and Chief
Justices of High Courts, in September 2004 agreed, among other things,
that the Central Government would take the lead in ensuring the full
computerization of all courts up to the level of district courts.

E-Committee: Consequently, the E-Committee was constituted under the

Chairmanship of Dr. Justice G.C. Bharuka, a retired Judge of the High Court
of Karnataka, with three other specialist members. The E-Committee was
inter alias required to formulate a National Policy on computerization of
justice delivery system and to draw up an action plan with appropriate
phasing for time bound implementation.

The E-Committee prepared the Report on Strategic Plan for

Implementation of Information and Communication Technology in Indian
Judiciary which was presented to the CJI on 11.05.2005 E-Committee also
held detailed discussions with large section of ICT related organizations,
service providers, research and development experts and leading
manufacturers to ascertain the existing status of the technology. Its use in
the context of court related processes, pricing, availability, security,
implementation, scalability, sustainability, pace of change and support
systems. Based on the inputs received from persons having expertise in
diverse domains relevant for change management in Indian Judiciary, the E-
Committee has framed the present National Policy and Action Plan for its
implementation during a span of five years from the date of its effective
commencement.

Salient Features of National Policy and Action Plan 2005

1. JUDICIAL PORTAL AND E-MAIL SERVICES

It is proposed to have a full-fledged portal which will have information
on Indian Judicial System. The portal can be utilized by the general
public, advocates, court officers, etc. The portal will contain information
like details of the structure of various courts in the country, history,
functions, and role of the judiciary. It will also contain an encyclopedia
of digital version of legal documents. The speeches of Hon'ble CJI,
Hon'ble Judges, Judgments of the Supreme Court of India and High
Courts, the functions of E-Committee, Judicial Academies, Legal
Information, law libraries will be part of the website.

It is proposed to have a centralized e-mail server exclusively for Indian

Judiciary domain. The e-mail ID's would be issued to selected members
of the Judiciary like Hon'ble CJI, Judges, officers of the judiciary System.
There will be unique Ids for each court also. The e-mail server will have
security features considering the sensitiveness of the information. For
administrating control over the functioning of the web and Email
services certain policies need to be framed to monitor and audit the
usage of E-Mail communication.

2. DEVELOPMENT OF CUSTOMISED SOFTWARE APPLICATION

The E-Committee feels that for developing a comprehensive and
integrated software in order to support the court system both on
 judicial as well as administrative side. A comprehensive study of all the
procedural laws and rules of practice followed in the courts of all the
States of the country should be made with the help of at least one
sufficiently senior judicial officer drawn from each State. The application
software will be developed by following the procedures internationally
defined and recognized. The entire process will follow the 4D
methodology namely, Discovery, Design, Development and Deployment.
The entire process will be properly documented. The document
including the entire coding, source code, the logic, forms and reports
will remain the property of the Supreme Court of India as the apex body
and representative of the Indian Judiciary. The input forms and output
documents will be designed in the notified official language of the
jurisdictional Courts as well.

3. TRAINING OF JUDGES AND ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF IN COURTS

In order to create training modules and devising sustainable training
strategies for the Judges and the court staff, the E-Committee, after due
deliberation and examining all the pros and cons. availed the services of
DOEACC, an autonomous society created and working under the
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of
India. The modules have been so designed that the judicial officers can
be trained for 90-94 sessions each comprising of 1½ hours. The judicial
officers are required to undertake this training after court hours. The
duration and the course material has been so designed that at the end
of this training, the judicial officers may acquire an expertise in use of
ICT tools, which will help them in becoming self-reliant and smart
performers. It is proposed that on the successful completion of this
training course, which will be assessed on intermediary and final skill
test, the judicial officers will be granted a certificate of successful
completion of the course.

4. CREATION OF CADRE OF TROUBLE-SHOOTERS FOR EACH COURT

COMPLEX
 System Administrators, System Assistants who are qualified in IT
/computers will be deployed to provide immediate technical assistance
to courts. The technical manpower so created will be absorbed in the
regular cadre of the courts for which the concerned State Governments,
in consultation with the High Courts, should make appropriate
provisions.

5. UPGRADATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE OF SUPREME COURT AND HIGH

COURT COMPLEXES

The Supreme Court and High Court already have certain amount of
computerization done. As has already been stated in the Report dated
11.05.2005, the Supreme Court and High Courts are at varying stages of
ICT enablement. Nevertheless additional technical infrastructure and
upgradation of existing infrastructure is necessary at Supreme Court and
High Court. It is proposed to equip the Supreme Court and High Court
Complexes with technical infrastructure such as WiFi System, Digital
Record Room, VC studio etc. Wireless LAN facilities will be provided in
the court complexes with multiple codes within space which will have a
caveat area encompassing the court complex and nearby area. People in
the surrounding area of the court complex will be able to access the
internet, judicial database and judicial intranet through web using their
laptop or computers without using internet cable connection with
proper authorization. This will enable judges, lawyers, judicial officers to
communicate through e-mails seamlessly. The WiFi system would
enable internet access without locational constraint within an area of 1
km radius.

Digital Record Room : A Digital Record Room is proposed to be created

at the Court Complexes which will serve as a centralized database of
judicial information. Document retrieval would become easier in this
case. In the manual record maintenance the record retrieval is also a
 time consuming task. With the creation of a Digital Record Room past
records, judgments etc would be made available to the judges, judicial
officers etc through web/intranet with proper authorization.

The High Court computer rooms would maintain a centralized database,

library system and record room for all the district courts and
subordinate courts under its jurisdiction. These will become the central
Network Operation System of the affiliated district and subordinate
courts. The technical infrastructure needs to be upgraded to reflect the
additional load on the servers, computers with the proposed additional
facilities and features.
Biometric facility: It is proposed that biometrics facility be installed at
Supreme Court and High Court Complexes. The setting up of Biometric
Facility would ease the process of prosecution/ judgment in cases of
fraud/ use of aliases. The use of biometric facility would be a great help
for fair judicial judgements. The most desirable effect of this technology
would be the eventual establishment of a global database which, may
be shared with other law enforcement and government agencies. This
global approach to truly confirmed identification will eventually
eliminate the systematic abuses created by the use of alias identities. To
initiate the use of such a technology which would greatly help the
judicial system, it is proposed that this facility be set up in Supreme
Court and High Court Complexes

6. DIGITISATION OF LEGAL TOOLS: STATUTE LAWS AND CASE LAWS

Statutes: Though statutes are of prime importance for adjudicatory

processes, quite often those are not readily available in updated forms
which leads to either delayed justice or many a times, miscarriage of
justice. Therefore, with the available technology, appropriate solutions
have to be devised to make all such laws available to the courts through
web in an updated form as and when those are made and enforced E-
Committee proposes to develop appropriate softwares for availability of
 all statute laws and devise methods for storing of such laws in digital
forms with requisite search facilities on the internet. For scanning and
storing of such laws, the services of the judicial academies can be
availed of.

Case laws: In India, now the law of precedents has a constitutional

recognition. Article 141 of the Constitution of India mandates that law
declared by the Supreme Court of India is binding on all courts within
the territory of India. Similarly, as declared by the Supreme Court, the
law declared by the High Courts is binding on all courts under the
control of the respective High Courts. For compliance of this rule, the
judgments of the Supreme Court and High Court should be available
expeditiously with requisite search facilities. Now it is feasible by use of
ICT. E-Committee proposes to develop the necessary web-enabled
software to achieve this end.

7. Digital record rooms

Each Judicial District in the State across the country is having a Record
Room styled the "Central Record Room" under the charge of the Record
Keeper attached to the District Court. The "Central Record Room"
means a place provided under Orders of the respective High Courts from
time to time for lodging and preservation of the records of civil and
criminal courts in the different areas of the State. The normal place of
Central Record Room will be in the premises of the District Court under
the control of the District Judge.

Dedicated manpower is engaged to store-manage and to retrieve the

judicial records as per the requirements. It becomes very difficult to
maintain these records because condition of the old records
deteriorates day by day. The number of files goes on increasing and the
space requirement increases, consequently, searching and retrieving the
files becomes difficult. It is high time now that these records should be
 achieved through digital processes. Through the computer and scanner
each document of the files can be scanned and stored in a manner so
that retrieval can be done swiftly. Document Management Software can
be utilized for indexing, searching, retrieving, accessing, printing and
displaying. The infrastructure requirement will be computers, heavy-
duty scanners, printers and document management software. The
application will be web based so that the record can be stored in
multiple locations. The backup will be stored in the CD. Through the
process of networking valuable files are preserved and documents are
accessed in more user friendly way. Even this process can be done in a
remote place from where a document can be accessed through
network. The standard document management software product can be
procured and customized to suit the requirement of the Court System.

8. INTER-CONNECTIVITY OF LAW LIBRARIES

Each court complex in the country has libraries. All these libraries are
currently functioning independently with no interconnectivity/ resource
sharing among them. These libraries are an integral and essential part of
the judicial system. Judicial officers and judges refer to the library
resource on a regular basis to get various information for reference
purposes. It is proposed that a digital library system be maintained. This
would have the important reference material/ books/ periodicals in
digital format, which could be accessed through internet/ intranet by
the judicial officers and judges as also to the lawyers and public at large
subject to assigned privileges and security measures.

9. Regular POST-OPERATIONAL MAINTENANCE

For making the ICT applications sustainable in any organization for

availing the best of its use, there is a need for continuous maintenance
of its material and human resources. This will include maintenance of
hardware, upgradation and fine tuning of software applications,
 providing of uninterrupted supply of consumables, availability of
technical manpower for trouble-shooting etc.

Development of E-courts

Under the National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary –
2005, the e-courts project is to be completed in three phases:

Phase I : Initiation of the ICT Implementation in the Judicial System

In Phase-I of the eCourts Project beginning from 2007, a large number of
Court Complexes, Computer Server Rooms and Judicial Service Centres
were readied for computerization of the District Courts. The District and
Taluka Court Complexes covered in Phase-I were computerized with
installation of hardware, softwares, LAN and Case Information Software
(CIS), for providing basic case related services to the litigants and the
lawyers. A large number of District Courts launched their websites for the
convenience of the different stakeholders. The Change Management
exercise was undertaken to train the Judicial Officers and Court Staff in the
use of computers and Case Information System (CIS) was successfully
implemented. The Judicial Officers were trained by the Master Trainers
trained from amongst them for continuing training programme. The CIS
Master trainers have trained District System Administrators (DSAs) in the
use of CIS. The DSAs have trained all the Court Staff in the use of CIS. The
data entry for all pending cases has reached an advanced stage of
completion. The Process Re-Engineering exercise was initiated to have a
fresh look on the process, procedures, systems and Court Rules in force in
the different District Courts under High Courts.

Phase II : Co-ordination of ICT infrastructure for Judicial System

In Phase-II, the covered courts are provisioned for additional hardware
with more computer systems per Court Room, the uncovered Courts of
Phase-I and the newly established Courts with more computer systems per
Court Room and the Court Complexes are provisioned for hardware, LAN
etc. Provision has been made for computerization of office of District Legal
Services Authority; Taluka Legal Services Committee, the National Judicial
Academy and the State Judicial Academies for efficient delivery of services
and training. In Phase-II, all the remaining Court Complexes are provisioned
to be connected with Jails and Desktop based Video Conferencing to go
beyond routine remands and production of under-trial prisoners. It will also
be used for recording evidence in sensitive cases and gradually extended to
cover as many types of cases as possible. With an emphasis on Capacity
Building of Judicial Officers and Process Re-Engineering, the Phase-II
provides for Judicial Knowledge Management System including Integrated
Library Management System and use of Digital Libraries.
The Phase-II of the project lays great emphasis on service delivery to the
litigants, lawyers and other stakeholders. The websites will be Accessible
Compliant and to the extent possible, the information will be available in
the local languages. The applications for mobile phones , SMS and emails
are extensively used as platforms for dissemination of information.
Certified copies of documents will be given online and e-Payment Gateways
will be provided for making deposits, payment of court fees, fines etc. The
National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) will be further improvised to facilitate
more qualitative information for Courts, Government and Public.

Phase III: ICT coverage of Judicial process from filing to execution and all
administrative activities

It is envisaged that e-filing and e-enquiry would be implemented. Citizens

can file cases and will be able to know the status of the cases to get legal
assistance through web. This would save a lot of time and energy for
citizens and litigants.
Security measures for the data would be implemented in this phase
including disaster recovery services. A robust and reliable Data Center
would be set up for disaster recovery services.
Looking at the above aspects, the dependency of the judicial system on ICT
will increase to the maximum level by this phase. Measures will be taken to
ensure 100% utilize of time of the infrastructure.

Launching of the website ecourts.gov.in

On 7th August 2013, Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India launched the e-
Courts National portal ecourts.gov.in of the eCourts Project. More than
2852 Districts and Taluka Court Complexes have secured their presence on
the NJDG portal ecourts.gov.in and are providing Case Status, Cause lists
online with many of them also uploading orders/judgments. The data of
more than 7 crore pending and disposed of cases and 3.3 crore
orders/judgments of District Courts in India is available on NJDG at present.
With dynamic real time data generated and updated continuously, the
NJDG is serving as a source of information of judicial delivery system for all
the stakeholders. It is regularly analyzed for meaningful assistance in policy
formation and decision making. The NJDG is working as National data
warehouse for case data including the orders/judgments for Courts across
the country with full coverage of District Courts.

The Online Analytical Processing, and Business Intelligence Tools will help in
the summation of multiple databases into tables with summarized reports
for preparation of informative management system and dashboards for
effective Court and Case Management. The Judicial Management
Information System will be helpful in litigations and adjudication pattern
analysis and also the impact analysis of any variation in governing factors
relating to law, amendments, jurisdiction, recruitment etc. It will also serve
as judicial performance enhancing measure for policy makers to be used for
decision support system.
 Services offered by E-courts website

Sr.No Service Details

1. Automation of Case Case Filing, Scrutiny,

Management Processes Registration, Case Allocation,
Court Proceedings, Details entry
of a Case, Case Disposal &
restoration, Transfer of Case etc
2. Provision of online services Certified copies of orders and
judgments, Case status,
Calculation of court fees, Cause
lists, Institution Registers, and
Court Diaries
3. Establish information gateways Information exchange with
between courts and government police, prisons, land records
agencies department, registration offices
etc; distant
production/examination of
under trial and witnesses
through video conferencing
4. Creation of National Judicial Monitoring of pendency in the
Data Grid agencies courts

E-GOVERNANCE IN COURT PROCEDURE

Electronic governance or e-governance implies government functioning with the

application of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Hence e-
Governance is basically a move towards SMART governance implying: simple,
moral, accountable, responsive and transparent governance.

Simple — implies simplification of rules and regulations of the government and

avoiding complex processes with the application of ICTs and therefore, providing
a user-friendly government.
Moral — meaning the emergence of a new system in the administrative and
political machinery with technology interventions to improve the efficiency of
various government agencies.

Accountable — develop effective information management systems and other

performance measurement mechanisms to ensure the accountability of public
service functionaries.

Responsive — Speed up processes by streamlining them, hence making the

system more responsive.

Transparent — providing information in the public domain like websites or

various portals hence making functions and processes of the government
transparent.

E-Governance initiatives: Platforms created for service delivery

a) e-Courts Portal: Online mechanisms are available for stakeholders such as

litigants, advocates, government agencies, and the police to track case status,
view cause lists, judgments and daily orders. The services.ecourts.gov.in
portal is a one stop access point where a person can locate a case from any
court across the country by using different search criteria available on the
website. Data is available on the portal for disposed of and pending civil and
criminal cases across the country. The portal also contains judgments and
orders of the district judiciary.
b) Mobile App: e-Courts Services mobile app available on Android and iOS
provides facility for all stakeholders including advocates and parties, tocreate
a portfolio of cases in which they are associated and track them for future
alerts. A facility to search the case by a QR Code is also provided and the App
has been downloaded multiple times.
c) SMS Push: Litigants and advocates get an SMS alert on their cell phones, in
case of any adjournment, scrutiny, registration, transfer of case, disposal,
uploading of orders, etc.
d) SMS Pull: This facility allows advocates and litigants to send the CNR number
(which is a unique number tagged for every single case in the country) and
receive a response with the current status of the case.
e) Automated e-Mails: Litigants, advocates and police stations receive
information on regular e-mails in relation to the cause lists, transfer of cases,
disposal, copies of orders and judgments.
f) Touch Screen Kiosks and Service Centre: Dissemination of case status has
been made simple with the installation of touch screen kiosks in various court
complexes across the country. This allows litigants and advocates to view their
case status at the touch of a button. The same information can also be
obtained from Judicial Service Centres established in court complexes.
g) E-Payment: In order to facilitate ease of payments, online payment of court
fees, fines, penalties and judicial deposits through the epay.ecourts.gov.in has
been facilitated. Citizens can make payments online without the use of
cheques, cash or stamps, with the help of this portal.
h) E-Filing: For convenience, facility for online filing of cases and case papers
with the court registry has been provided. This facility is integrated with
standard application software across all the districts and subordinate courts.
i) NSTEP: National Software and Tracking of Electronic Process, is a mechanism
that consists of a centralised service tracking application and a mobile app for
court bailiffs. NSTEP has been created for speedy delivery of process and to
reduce inordinate delays in judicial procedures. The mobile app, equipped
with GPS location tracking assists the bailiffs in real-time and transparent
tracking of services. The mobile app also has the facility to record the photo
and signature of the receiver. In case of non-service of notice or
communication, the mobile application instantly communicates it to the
central NSTEP server.
j) Video Conferencing: In an effort to speed up the judicial process,
videoconferencing facilities connecting courts and jails have been established
in 488 courts and 342 jails across India.
k) Live streaming of court proceedings
 Recently, in the month of September, 2022, the Supreme Court has started
live-streaming of proceedings.
Currently, six high courts in the country — Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka,
Jharkhand, Patna, and Madhya Pradesh — have their own channels on
YouTube to live stream their proceedings. These proceedings are streamed on
the basis of the Supreme Court’s e-Committee’s model guidelines, a set of
directions aimed at regulating live streaming of court proceedings in India.

These YouTube channels have also enabled High Courts to widen their reach
since they also telecast official programs and conferences on them, which
allows online participation of the general public as well.

The Supreme Court’s suggestion to live stream proceedings came while it was
hearing a writ petition filed by Swapnil Tripathi, a law student.

Case law: Swapnil Tripathi v/s Supreme Court of India (2018)

The Supreme Court observed that live streaming of Court proceedings has the
potential of throwing up an option to the public to witness live court proceedings
which they otherwise could not have due to logistical issues and infrastructural
restrictions of Courts; and would also provide them with a more direct sense of
what has transpired. Thus, technological solutions can be a tool to facilitate
actualization of the right of access to justice bestowed on all and the litigants in
particular, to provide them virtual entry in the Court. Live streaming of Supreme
Court proceedings at least in respect of cases of Constitutional and national
importance, having an impact on the public at large, may be a good beginning.

In 2021, The Supreme Court of India has released the Draft Model Rules for Live-
Streaming and Recording of Court proceedings .

Key highlights of the Rules:

 The Rules mandate the setting up of a Dedicated Control Room (DCR) in

every Court complex. The DCR would ensure that the proceedings are live-
 streamed, recorded and transcribed, and that nothing inappropriate and
uncivil is streamed in the public domain;

 The Rules call for the appointment of technical experts to enable the live-
streaming process;

 Matters for which Live Streaming will not be done

Matrimonial matters, Cases regarding sexual offences, Proceedings initiated

under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Cases concerning
gender-based violence against women, Matters under the POCSO and
Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.In camera proceedings, Where the live-streaming
would be against the administration of justice. For this, the reasons of the
Bench have to be recorded in writing, cases which may provoke enmity
amongst communities and could result in a breach of law and order,
according to the bench, Any other matter in which the bench or the Chief
Justice has given a specific direction etc

 The Rules mandate that the parties are to be duly informed that the
proceedings are being live-streamed, and any objections to the same are to
be raised by filling of Forms under the schedules. Schedule I and II
appended to these Rules contains a form which has to be filled by the party
objecting to live-streaming of the proceedings. It contains details such as
Dairy number, Cause Title, Reasons for objection to the live-streaming to be
mentioned, and the details of the applicant.

 The recordings of the proceedings will be archived and will be uploaded

wholly or in part, on the Courts' website or other digital platforms, as
directed by the Court;

 Personal details such as names, addresses, identity cards of parties will be

deleted during live stream as a general precaution;

 The live-stream will operate with a delay of ten minutes so as to ensure

that all requirements under the Rules are met and checked by the DCR;
 The Courts' have the exclusive Copyright over the recordings and archival
data.;

 To obtain the recordings in the archival data, the form appended under
Schedule III needs to be filled out by the applicant. The personal details of
the applicant, reason for requesting access etc. are asked for in this
schedule.

From E-Courts to E-litigation

The e-Courts Project was an early step. It laid the groundwork in terms of
networking of courts, digitization of records and provision of information to
litigants and lawyers. In fact, the Objectives Accomplishment Report of
Phase II of the e-Courts Project reveals that the goal of setting up
videoconferencing facilities for all the courts with jails has already been
achieved. However, while the e-Courts Project makes a good beginning
with case information systems, the need is to move towards
comprehensive dispute resolution process, with a blend of permanent
benches of electronic courts and the physical courts.

World over, the experimentation has already commenced with what is

more popularly known as the Online Dispute Resolution (‘ODR’). The ODR
system, which includes e-negotiation, e-mediation and e-arbitration
techniques, goes a step farther than the ADR system. ODR is often
simplistically understood to mean e-ADR or ADR that is enabled through
technology.

ODR is mainly used in the resolution of cross-border electronic commerce

disputes. However, ODR techniques can also be used in the resolution of
traditional cross-border commercial disputes, if the parties agree in their
contract to settle any dispute that may arise through one of the ODR
techniques, particularly online arbitration. E-arbitration is mainly used for
the resolution of Business to Business (‘B2B’) cross-border e-commerce
disputes, and partially used for the resolution of traditional cross-border
commercial disputes.

The Supreme Court, in Shakti Bhog Foods Limited v Kola Shipping Ltd and
Anr (2012) and in Trimex International v Vedanta Aluminium Ltd.(2010)
recognized the validity of use of technology in the arbitration process. The
court also upheld that the validity of online arbitration agreements through
emails, telegram or other means of telecommunication which provide the
record of agreement.

Virtual Courts for traffic challans and cheque bouncing cases:

The Supreme Court in M/S Meters and Instruments Pvt. Ltd. vs. Kanchan
Mehta (2017) identified that complete reliance could be placed on
technology tools to resolve disputes. The court observed that some cases
could partly or entirely be concluded ‘online’ and recommended the
resolution of simple cases like those concerning traffic challans and cheque
bouncing through online mechanisms.

BENEFITS OF E-litigation/ODR

1. Reduced Cost
The primary advantage of using ODR as a mechanism to solve dispute is
that it is cheaper as compared to litigation. There are various factors which
contribute to this substantial reduction in cost. Since everything is
conducted online, the parties cut down on travelling expenses and save a
lot of money there. One of the biggest hindrance in achieving "access to
justice" is that the demographic of India is such that not everybody can
afford the cost of litigation as a result of which parties prefer not going to
courts. But with the advent of ODRs the spirit of constitution as enshrined
in Article 14 and 21 i.e., right to access justice is promoted and fostered.

2. Access to justice
The adversarial nature of Judiciary in India is overwhelming for a significant
section of population, which becomes another reason for hampering the
access to justice right. ODR however takes into consideration the
challenges and provides a mechanism which is tailor suited according to the
needs of people and thus, as a result makes justice accessible by all.

3. Convenient and Quicker mode of dispute resolution

When parties go to courts, the time period during which the cases get
resolved is lengthy. The evidence to this is the overburdened Judiciary. This
is why it becomes all the more important to devise alternate ways in which
justice can be dispensed. ODR is a multi-tier dispute resolving mechanism.
It is faster as a lot of unnecessary procedural delays are cut down due to
the process being held in an online mode.

4.Less use of paper

Incremental steps, and not a giant leap will take the system to the desired
end i.e. a situation where most types of cases can be litigated online. This is
a situation where documents and written submissions may be filed digitally
while oral arguments and witness examination may be carried out remotely
via video conferencing, with the need for physical court visits to be
maintained on matters of extreme importance.

E-commerce transactions and relationships generate disputes, and this has

translated into an unprecedented “growth industry” of disputes. In recent
decades, global companies have handled disputes involving domain names
which have been resolved through an online arbitration process. India has
the potential of a larger growth industry of disputes in the 2020s because
the new technologies have made possible huge numbers of transactions
and relationships across the board.
Hearings in court would take place only when necessary and proportionate.
It would be useful eventually to have a blend of e-court rooms and the
physical courts to make progress and deliver justice to all sections of the
society. No doubt, there would be problems initially like everything else,
but in the long term, there lies a great opportunity and solution.

5. Witness protection

Videoconferencing also offers a secure and convenient way of obtaining

evidence from vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. There is an immense
scope to scale up videoconferencing in cases involving vulnerable
witnesses.

6. Reduced burden on courts

The burden on courts gets reduced if more and more cases are resolved
through E-Litigation.

E-Litigation: Challenges

i. Structural Challenges
a) Digital infrastructure
A pre-condition to E-Litigation is robust technology infrastructure
across the country. This includes access to computers, smart phones
and medium to high bandwidth internet connection for at least the
length of time it takes to conduct meaningful hearings. The lack of
such requirements is likely to disadvantage those that have limited
access to digital infrastructure.

One of the key challenges is that the use of ICT can only be
distributed evenly if there is access to basic facilities such as internet,
smartphones or computer devices. The lack of digital arrangement in
most parts of the country creates a digital divide and hence this leads
 to a non-uniform use of ICT. In India, a significant percentage of
people live in areas where there is lack of basic facilities, let alone
lack of internet services. Additionally, there are remote areas too
where already due to distance that has to be covered to go to courts,
people prefer to settle between themselves, the lack of reach of E-
Litigation methods there will further widen the gap between
different class of people.

The prerequisite for the success of E-Litigation is availability of digital

infrastructure even in the remote areas. This is the only way in which
the online method of resolving disputes can be popularized. Along
with ensuring that physical infrastructure is in place, the goal should
be to educate and spread awareness on digital literacy. If the gap is
bridged, the strength of E-litigation will on its own come out.

There have already been projects such as Digital India, BharatNet

Project, National Broadband Mission etc., which aim at providing
digital education and awareness to all. The success is guaranteed if
no class of people is left at the boundary due to digital divide
created. Considering the marginalized section of society such as
women, who are always kept at the periphery and denied access to
mobile phones or internet, and then devising policies and creating
awareness about the same will go a long way in ensuring that E-
Litigation stays for a much longer period of time.

b) Digital literacy
Apart from digital infrastructure, a pre-requisite to a successful E-
litigation is widespread digital literacy. In India, this digital literacy
often varies across age, ethnicity and geography. There are many
people who do not have adequate knowledge of how to use the
digital infrastructure.

c) Divide in access to technology

In India, there exists a divide with respect to the access to technology
across gender, geography, class and age. Such divide in accessing the
internet might result in uneven access to E-Litigation services,
thereby exacerbating the divide that already exists in terms of access
to justice through traditional courts. It is essential that targeted
attempts are made to bridge this divide to truly be able to deliver the
benefits of E-litigation to all citizens.

ii) BEHAVIOURAL CHALLENGES

a) Lack of awareness regarding ODR/E-Litigation

It is essential that apart from strengthening ADR processes that
people are already familiar with, initiatives should be taken to
build awareness regarding ODR/E-Litigation. At present, the lack
of awareness regarding ODR translates into litigants and
businesses having low confidence in ODR processes and restricted
application of ODR in sectors with huge potential for such as
MSME, consumer disputes etc.

b) Lack of Trust
This mistrust stems at several levels – from skepticism regarding
technology to questions regarding enforceability of ODR
outcomes. The endeavor towards mainstreaming ODR needs to
address the issue of trust at every level. Like other emerging
technologies, ODR is bound to be met with skepticism from
potential users, especially regarding its effectiveness given the
lack of in-person interactions, as well as regarding data security
and confidentiality.

c) Changing the mindset

It is often difficult to introduce E-litigation in countries where
people rely more on courts. A major philosophical reason for this
kind of challenge is that people do not have trust in the E-
Litigation mechanism. One reason could be that it is done in an
online fashion which might not resonate with everyone as the
archaic process of solving dispute is imbedded in our minds to the
point that at initial stages, there can be difficulty in accepting
newer platforms for solving disputes. One way in which this could
be handled is by first starting with building confidence in these
procedures. After that certain preventive measures such as
keeping disclosure requirement at a basic minimum level while
solving disputes in online method. Robust system of policies
should be used to govern the data that is there on the internet. In
this way, the public will be more attuned towards using these
platforms, as they will be assured of their safety and security.

iii) Operational Challenges

a) Privacy and confidentiality concerns

Greater integration of technology and reduced face to face
interactions create new challenges for privacy and
confidentiality, especially in dispute resolution. These
challenges include online impersonation, breach of
confidentiality by circulation of documents and data shared
during E-litigation processes, tampering of digital evidence or
digitally delivered awards/ agreements. E-Litigation service
providers should be extremely mindful of building robust data
storage and management frameworks to address these
concerns. Digital signatures, encryption of documents to
ensure confidentiality etc. are some of the measures that need
to be taken to sustainably integrate E-Litigation for large scale
of disputes.

b) Archaic Legal Processes

The Supreme Court in Garware Walls Ropes Ltd. v Coastal
Marine Constructions & Engineering Ltd. held that arbitration
 agreement cannot be given effect unless the stamp duty is
paid. Although the Central Government has simplified the
process for payment of stamp duty through e-Stamps and
online payment the rules framed by the State Governments
still require parties to attach a copy of e-Stamp certificate to
the agreement as a proof of payment of stamp duty. The
archaic process does not work well with the end-to-end online
process of dispute resolution and creates barriers for ODR.
Further, in India there are no provisions for online notarization
of documents. As per the Notaries Rules 1956, notarization of
documents can only be done in person and hence, require
physical action on the part of parties. Such processes should be
digitized to ensure an end-to-end E-Litigation process.

c) Enforcement of the outcome of ODR/E-Litigation Process

A key challenge towards meeting the objectives of this report
itself is the existing uncertainty regarding enforcement of ODR
/E-Litigation outcomes. There seems to be a legal vacuum
when we consider mediation processes that are not initiated
by the physical courts. For these proceedings, settlements can
only be enforced as an agreement between the parties and any
breach of such agreement will result in further judicial
processes. Further, the process for enforcement of arbitral
award India is complex and burdensome.
 Open Access Journals and its importance in legal research

Open access information and knowledge is a key contribution in provisioning

universal access to information and knowledge. With the availability of ICTs, it
continues to make changes in every aspect of our society and reshapes scholarly
communication in many ways. Open access journals (OAJ) initiative emerged as a
revolutionary movement that promotes free access to scholarly publications over
the Internet, removes the price and permission barriers and ensures the widest
possible dissemination of research and having a higher impact rates than
subscription journals.

Definition of Open Access Journal:

According to Directory of Open Access Journals, Open access journals are

“journals that use a funding model that does not charge readers or their
institutions for access.”

Characteristics of Open Access Journals are:

i. It is free availability of scholarly publication.

ii. Materials are available online.
iii. Journals are full text.
iv. Journals can be accessed by anybody from anywhere without any
discrimination.
v. Journals can be freely used by anyone.

Benefits of Open Access Journals

a. Free availability:

Open access journals publications are freely available online to anyone,

which maximizes the visibility, and thus the uptake and use of the work
published. An open access journal provides numerous benefits for
researcher, faculty, students etc.

b. High quality and rigorous peer review:

 Open access journals run through the same peer review, production and
publishing processes as journals and books published under the traditional
subscription-based model.

c. Research and publication:

Open access journals have wider visibility and usage of their research
findings. They have a significantly larger and more diverse audience.
Increased exposure to research also increases citation rate. Open Access
journals provide an avenue to connect with a global society more easily and
researchers can publish without printing costs.

d. Greater knowledge sharing:

By putting rich and poor on an equal footing, Open access provides free
knowledge for teaching and learning.

e. Benefits to author:

Open access journals give authors a worldwide audience larger than that of
any subscription-based journal, no matter how prestigious or popular, and
demonstrably increase the visibility and impact of their work.

f. Benefits to Society:

Society as a whole benefits from an expanded and accelerated research cycle

in which research can advance more effectively because researchers have
immediate access to all the findings they need.

g. Benefits to Universities

Universities benefit from their researchers' increased impact and increase

their visibility. Open access journals reduce their journal expenses and
advance their mission to share knowledge.

h. Benefits to nations:

Open access journals incorporates local research into all interoperable

network of global knowledge; increases impact of local research, providing
new contacts and research partnerships for authors; removes professional
 isolation and strengthens economies through developing a strong and
independent national.

Barriers to open access journals in Developing Countries like India:

1. Internet and information and communication technology:

In developing countries like India due to the high cost of availability of ICTs
and connectivity and poor telecommunication infrastructure, open access is
often problematic. This makes the actual use of any open access journals,
repositories, and implementation of software more difficult.

2. Funding to build and upgrade the internet infrastructure:

Adequate funding to build, upgrade and maintain ICT infrastructure is a

problem in many developing countries. For example, because of the poor
ICT infrastructure in academic institutions in developing countries like
India, it is difficult to sustain the development of institutional
repositories.

3. Lack of awareness and misconception about open access publishing

There is a lack of awareness and misconception of the existence and

benefits of open access publishing.

4. Copyright and plagiarism issues

The contents of the journal articles are blatantly copied and reproduced
on several online platforms without giving credit to the original author
which raise copyright and plagiarism concerns.

5. Authenticity and correctness of content

If the journal is not subject to proper scrutiny and review, the content
posted may not be authentic and correct.

Some examples of Open Access law Journals

National:
Journal of Indian Law and Society

Banaras Law Journal

ILI Law Review

Indian Journal of Criminology

INDIAN JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Indian Journal of Law and Technology

NALSAR Student Law Review

NLUD Journal of Legal Studies

NUJS Law Review

International

Harvard Human Rights Journal

Harvard Journal of Law and Gender

Harvard Journal of Law and Technology

Columbia Law Review

Entertainment and Sports Law Journals

SAGE Open

Stanford Technology Law Review

Yale Law Journal

Melbourne Journal of International Law

 E-Libraries/Digital Libraries

Digital age has brought a tremendous change in the way information is stored and
accessed. It is marked by three distinct features: abundance, currency and easy
access of information. This has brought about a change in the concept of libraries,
their collection and services. Many new terms viz., ‘digital libraries’, libraries
without walls’, ‘virtual libraries’ are emerging to describe the libraries of present
day age.

E-Libraries/Digital library: Concept

E- library is a library which has all the information in electronic form and having
electronic devices to have access to the digitized information. Thus, digital/E-
library is a library which has number of machine-readable publications and
facilities for remote access to several databases. It combines technology and
information resources to allow remote access, breaking down the physical barrier
between resources.

Characteristics of Digital Libraries

 Digital collection: The most important component of a digital library is the

digital collection it holds or has access to. A digital library can have a wide
range of resources. It may contain both paper based conventional
documents or information contained in computer-processible form. The
collection of a digital library may include – a combination of
structured/unstructured texts, numerical data, scanned images, graphics,
audio and video recordings.
 Support multimedia components
 Supports and provides search and retrieval interface
 Supports the traditional library mission of collection, development,
organization, access and preservation.
 Digital libraries will require the skills of both librarians as well as computer
professional to be viable.
Advantages of E-Library

1. More efficient and qualitative services

In comparison to traditional libraries, digital libraries provide efficient and
qualitative services by collecting, organizing, storing, disseminating,
retrieving and preserving the information.

2. Easy to store, retrieve and deliver the information

Digital libraries support preservation besides making information retrieval
and delivery more comfortable. It provides online access to historical and
cultural documents whose existence is endangered due to physical decay.

3. Easier management of digital content

Digital libraries today make good use of what we know about searching
large collections, and techniques such as machine-assisted indexing are
employed increasingly often as we strive to extend our reach to
progressively larger collections.

4. User can access the information from anywhere

E-Libraries have a better reach. User can access the information from
anywhere if he has access to good internet connection and necessary
devices.

5. Cross references to other documents speed up the work of users

Using Digital libraries, access to multiple books, journals, commentaries
becomes much faster and convenient. Multiple references can be
simultaneously accessed in multiple tabs, thus seeping up the work of the
users.

Significance of Digital libraries

i) provides access to a very large information collection in a digital form

ii) supports multi-media content
iii) is network accessible
iv) provides user friendly interface
v) support advance search and retrieval
vi) supports the traditional library mission of collection, development,
organization, access and presentation v
vii) supports publishing, annotation and integration of new information
viii) brings together people with formal, informal and professional learning
missions
ix) provides faster access to information resources
x) provides an easy mechanism for resource sharing with others. Sharing of
digital files is much easier.

Major issues in development of Digital Libraries

i) Digital/technical infrastructure
Libraries need to enhance and upgrade current technical infrastructure
such as: — High speed local network and fast connection to internet —
Comprehensive database that supports a variety of digital formats — Full
text search engines to index and provide access to resources, Electronic
document management system

ii) Building digital collection

One of the most important issues in creating a digital library is building of
the digital collection. One of the major issue is the degree to which libraries
will digitize existing material and acquire original digital works.

iii) Digitization
Another aspect is what portion of collection to digitize. Digitization is
conversion of any fixed or analogue media – such as books, journal articles,
magazines etc into electronic form.

iv) Copyright/rights management

 Copyright is one of the most important barriers to digital library
development. The current paper- based concept of copyright breaks down
in the digital environment because the control of copies is lost. Digital
objects are less fixed, easily copied and remotely accessible by multiple
users simultaneously. The problems of libraries are that they are for the
most part simply caretakers of information, they do not own the copyright
of the material they hold. Hence, libraries cannot freely digitize and provide
access to the copyrighted material in their collection. They have to develop
a mechanism for managing copyright.

Some Examples of E-Library

(i) National Digital Library

(ii) Kopykitab
(iii) Lexis knowledge
(iv) Project Gutenberg