BackArtificial Intelligence in judiciary: CJI DY Chandrachud speaks on possibilities of AI, role of judges in such cases
As per CJI DY Chandrachud, social media's connection with live streaming presents a new challenge.
PremiumDY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India, has called on judges to embrace technology for the benefit of litigants, stating that litigants should not be burdened because judges are uneasy with technology.
Speaking at the National Conference on Digitisation held in Odisha, the CJI implored High Courts to continue using technology for hybrid hearings, pointing out that such facilities are not meant for use only during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CJI Chandrachud stated that in a judgement he was editing the previous night, he mentioned that lawyers should not be overburdened because judges are not comfortable with technology. He added that the solution to this is straightforward - judges need to retrain themselves.
He also touched upon his recent correspondence with Chief Justices to allow lawyers to appear virtually, adding that some High Courts have disbanded video conference systems despite having the infrastructure in place.
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According to CJI Chandrachud, they have received numerous PILs from lawyers in India stating that hybrid hearings have been discontinued. Therefore, he requested the Chief Justices to refrain from dismantling the infrastructure.
CJI Chandrachud also inaugurated a neutral citation system and spoke about his vision to create paperless and virtual courts over the cloud. However, he also flagged recent incidents resulting from the live-streaming of proceedings.
CJI Chandrachud mentioned the issue of certain video clips of a judge in Patna High Court questioning an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer for their inappropriate attire in court. Although these clips are amusing, they should be regulated as there are more significant occurrences happening in the courtroom.
He explained that social media's connection with live streaming presents a new challenge, requiring a centralised cloud infrastructure for live streaming, as well as new court hardware.
The CJI reiterated that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools would be useful, but judges' discretion would still be necessary, particularly in areas such as sentencing policy.
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"We do not think we want to cede our discretion, which we exercise on sound judicial lines in terms of sentencing policy. At the same time, AI is replete with possibilities and it is possible for the Supreme Court to have record of 10,000 or 15,000 pages? How do you expect a judge to digest documents of 15,000 pages, which comes with a statutory appeal?" Bar and Bench quoted him as saying..
The top court recently launched a new version of its e-filing portal for crowd testing, engaging with lawyers and clerks to raise awareness and provide training. The CJI emphasised that the top court exists for the entire country and called for the centralisation of cloud infrastructure for live streaming in order to address new challenges posed by social media.
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