Whitepaper Series on Next Generation Justice Platform, Paper 1: The Vision

Abstract

We now live in the digital age; in the last 30 years, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has rapidly transformed every aspect of our lives to how the State and citizens interact. There is now a public expectation that ICT channels be used to deliver justice more efficiently. To this end, DAKSH India has authored a three part series of white papers that outline the vision, implementation and legal framework required to realise a next-generation justice platform. This is the first paper which envisages the next stage of digitization using a public platform approach that would enable seamless interaction with other institutional stakeholders in the justice system, while retaining a citizen-centric focus. The judiciary is a complex system which needs efficient, streamlined, and robust systems in place for communication, storage, and management of information. In the paper we discuss the principles that will guide us to build a next generation justice platform by taking inspiration from the concepts of ‘government as a platform’ and ‘one stop government’.

Keywords: Justice Platform, Justice, Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Access to Justice, Judiciary, one stop government, accessibility, privacy, Indian Court, India, transparency, e-filing, notifications, online filing, civil case, criminal case, performance management, video conferencing