The CJI also stressed on the need to ensure an element of accountability of judiciary towards the people, particularly when it comes to transparency in the decision making process.
Indian courts have become more than just opaque physical spaces and have come to be reimagined not as ‘imposing ‘empires’ but as democratic spaces of discourse, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said in his address on Tuesday at the J20 summit in Brazil.
CJI Chandrachud stressed that COVID-19 pushed the frontiers of our court systems which were compelled to change overnight.
“Courts became more than just opaque physical spaces,” said the CJI.
The J20 Summit, overseen and coordinated by Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF), brings together presidents from the Supreme and Constitutional Courts of G20 member countries, as well as representatives from the African Union and the European Union.
The event has seen discussions on critical topics including social justice, environmental sustainability and the integration of technology for improved judicial efficiency.
CJI Chandrachud spoke on the topic ‘Digital Transformation and use of technology to enhance judicial efficiency’.
On judicial efficiency, the CJI highlighted that there was a need to look beyond efficiency of a judge and look at the process as well.
“When we speak of judicial efficiency, we must look beyond the efficiency of the judge and think of a holistic judicial process. Efficiency lies not only in outcomes but in these processes- which must ensure free and fair hearing,” he said.
The CJI also stressed on the need to ensure an element of accountability of judiciary towards the people, particularly when it comes to transparency in the decision making process.
“As judges, we are neither princes nor sovereigns who are above the explainability requirement ourselves. We are service providers and enablers of rights-affirming societies. The decision itself and the road leading up to it must be transparent, understandable to everyone with or without a legal education and must be broad enough for everyone to walk alongside,” he underscored.
On the aspect of technological strides made by the Supreme Court of India, the CJI stated that persons with physical impairments, pregnant women, and persons in their advanced years now have the choice to access courtrooms virtually.
“Over 750,000 cases have been heard over video conference. The proceedings of important constitutional cases in the Supreme Court are live-streamed on its YouTube channel bringing constitutional deliberations to the homes and hearts of all citizens,” said the CJI.
However, CJI Chandrachud also cautioned that the potential of technology lies in how we convert it to minimise pre-existing inequalities since inequalities are not neatly stacked compartments; they are rather a complex web of interwoven realities.
In this regard, he also highlighted the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.
“Technology is not a one-stop panacea for all social inequalities. Complicated issues such as AI-profiling and consequent stigmatisation of individuals in large language models, algorithmic bias, misinformation, exposure of sensitive information and opacity of black box models in AI must be tackled with sustained deliberative efforts and engagement about the dangers,” said the CJI.
Pertinently, CJI Chandrachud also commended legal journalists in India for bringing accurate court news to light by allaying misinformation and misunderstanding of legal proceedings.