Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T10:44:34.124Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

eLegalls: Enriching a Legal Justice System in the Emerging Legal Informatics and Legal Tech Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2021

Sugam Sharma  and
Sony A.L. Reeta
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The research footprint of Information Technology (IT) in a legal system has not grown with the same pace as it has penetrated other domains. More specifically, in developing countries such as India, where the digitalization revolution is underway, the growth of legal informatics (LI) is still premature and very limited traces of IT can be observed to assist and elevate the legal system, which still functions very much in an old school way. The faster growth of population and the diminishing proportion of judicial executives and the deteriorating law and order situation along with declining human rights demand the urgent evolution of LI to grow at a very rapid pace to attain its maturity. However, the human harassments are pretty prevailing across the nation, but its intensity increases manifold when it comes to the law-enforcement agencies tasked with responsible policing, more specifically, the state police, which often operates with compromised work ethics. The situation becomes more appalling with a vulnerable population, especially women. As a result, such a population often does not muster enough courage to go to a police station to file their complaints despite acute mental and emotional pain. This is to avoid further trauma by police harassment and ergo a large number of cases go unnoticed. An underprivileged rape victim, who tries to file a report by going to a police station is a classic example of such a situation; where she is not only denied, but also gets harassed by insensitive police official(s) at the station; consequently, a good number of such victims do not go and their cases are not reported.

In this research work, we have developed a computational framework, called eLegalls, an LI-enabled innovation, as an effective solution to the above stated issues. The eLegalls system facilitates users to file their reports to police in their geographic jurisdiction, through its efficient and secure interface without any in-person visit. The eLegalls will help the vulnerable population to avoid unwanted denial and impending harassment by the police official(s) at the police station. The system is also equipped with some secure and pertinent features for the lawyers or attorneys to efficiently advocate in assigned cases. The eLegalls is envisioned to eventually be a successful legal tech, effectively serving the community.

Keywords

eLegallsLegalInformaticsLawAutomationLegal Tech
Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , Spring 2021 , pp. 16 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by International Association of Law Libraries

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

© Sugam Sharma 2021. Dr. Sharma is CSSM Systems Architect Leader & Researcher at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA. He holds a PhD in Computer Science, Iowa State University, Iowa, USA. Dr. Sharma would like to acknowledge the CodeX at Stanford Law School, Stanford University, USA, where he is a regular participant in CodeX meetings. This has helped him to better understand the contemporary research and future trends in Legal Informatics. The author also acknowledges Prof. Santosh Kumar of University of Dar Es Salaam who reviewed the mathematical content of this article. Finally, Dr. Sugam Sharma acknowledges the late Sh. Chandra Raj Sharma, senior advocate, District Court of Bulandshahr, who exposed him to the legal domain for the very first time. The author dedicates this work to him.

2

© Reeta Sony A.L. 2021. Reeta Sony A.L. is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Studies in Science Policy, School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She holds a PhD in Information Technology-Law from National Law University, Delhi.

References

3 See, Vogl, R. (2016). The Coming of Age of Legal Technology. Stanford Law School. http://complaw.stanford.edu/complaw/readings/coming_of_age.pdf. See also, Waltl, B., and Vogl, R. (2018). Explainable artificial intelligence the new frontier in legal informatics. Jusletter IT, 4, 1-10.

4 Warren, K. (2021). A car full of explosives was found near the home of Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, in February. A police officer was just arrested for his alleged involvement in the scheme. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/mukesh-ambani-bomb-scare-india-2021-3; Ali, A. (2020). Bookie, Cop Arrested in Mansukh Hiran Murder Case, ATS Claims Case Solved. Outlook India. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-mansukh-hiran-murder-case-solved-sachin-vaze-is-main-accused-ats/377948; Singh, Y. (2017). Corruption in Indian Judiciary. World Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development. http://wwjmrd.com/upload/corruption-in-indian-judiciary_1511777721.pdf; Huchhanavar, S. S. (2020). Regulatory mechanisms combating judicial corruption and misconduct in India: a critical analysis. Indian Law Review, 4(1), 47–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Katju, M. (2014). “How a corrupt judge continued in Madras high court”, The Times of India, Jul. 21, 2014, available at - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/How-a-corrupt-judgecontinued-in-Madras-high-court/articleshow/38760632.cms (Visited on April 1, 2015); Kumar, R. K. (2016). The Indian Judiciary on Trial: Tackling Corruption in India's Courts. The Global Anticorruption Blog. https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2016/02/12/the-indian-judiciary-on-trial-tackling-corruption-in-indias-courts/; Tiwari, N. (2009). Legal Regime on Prevention of Corruption in Judiciary. Available at SSRN 1492822. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1492822; Patel, G. (2011). What we talk about when we talk about corruption. Economic and Political Weekly, 13-16; Singh, S., & Bhalothia, S. (2014). Analysis of National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, 2014; Name Corrupt Judges, Don't Put All in ‘One Basket’: CJI. Outlook, Nov 26, 2011. http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Name-Corrupt-Judges-Dont-Put-All-inOne-Basket-CJI/742667 (Visited on Dec 9, 2020); Sharma, D. (2014). Judicial Accountability: Need of the Hour. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 4(2), 155-173; Alamgeer, M. (2020). Crisis of Credibility of the Supreme Court: A symptom of grave Constitutional instability. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org. http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2004143.pdf; The Print Team. (2018). Justice Markandey Katju on why shoving corruption by judges under the carpet won't help, ThePrint. https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/shoving-corruption-by-judges-under-the-carpet-wont-help-justice-katju/39641/; Jagannathan, R. (2014). SC shame: Katju's allegation damns integrity of three Chief Justices of India. Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/politics/sc-shame-katjus-allegation-damns-integrity-of-three-chief-justices-of-india-1627247.html. Katju, J. M. (2018). Whither Indian Judiciary. Bloomsbury Publishing; Scroll Staff. (2014). Former judge Katju makes more allegations about judicial corruption, https://scroll.in/article/673791/former-judge-katju-makes-more-allegations-about-judicial-corruption; Tripathi, S. (2018). Corruption in higher judiciary is real: Negating rot-within and focusing on individuals will not help Justice Kurian Joseph's cause. Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/india/corruption-in-higher-judiciary-is-real-negating-rot-within-and-focusing-on-individuals-will-not-help-justice-kurian-josephs-cause-5662901.html; Hindustan Times. (2015). 50% of higher judiciary corrupt, says ex-SC judge Markandey Katju. http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/50-of-higherjudiciary-corrupt-says-ex-sc-judge-markandeykatju/story-Hfu8Ru8o9YfoGOjloboytN.html (last modified 29 September, 2017); Venkatesan, J. (2016). Judiciary not untouched by corruption. The Hindu. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/judiciarynot-untouched-by-corruption/article4866406.ece (last modified 6th November, 2017).

5 The Newswire. (2011), supra.

6 Jaithlia, A. and Maheshwari, A. (2020). The Agonizing Pace of the Indian Judiciary. Jurist. [Online] https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/05/jaithlia-maheshwari-indian-judiciary-pace/#:~:text=There%20are%20numerous%20causes%20behind,had%2010.5%20per%20million%20people; Johari, A. (2018). The Indian justice system is too slow, too complex and too costly, says new study- The courts and police are the least-preferred mechanisms for resolving disputes in India, the finds, https://scroll.in/article/866158/the-indian-justice-system-is-too-slow-too-complex-and-too-costly-says-new-study; Singh, T., & Thakur, A. S. (2019). Administration of Justice: Judicial Delays in India. Indian Journal of Public Administration, 65(4), 885-896; Doshi, V. (2016). India's long wait for justice: 27m court cases trapped in legal logjam. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/05/indias-long-wait-for-justice-27-million-court-cases-trapped-in-a-legal-logjam.

7 See the Literature Review section for recent research on this area.

8 Desai, R. D. (2020). India Failing to Make Progress in its Campaign Against Corruption. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronakdesai/2020/03/03/india-failing-to-make-progress-in-its-campaign-against-corruption/?sh=582f5babe127; Bussell, J. (2018). When do middlemen matter? Evidence from variation in corruption in India. Governance, 31(3), 465-480; Gupta, A. (2017). Changing forms of corruption in India. Modern Asian Studies, 51(6), 1862-1890; Naz, G. N. (2017). Corruption in India: causes and remedial measures. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(4), 901-904. Verma, A., & Sharma, R. (2019). Combating corruption in India. Cambridge University Press; Rather, M. A., Sangma, J. T., & Akhter, G. (2020). Human Rights and Violations of Women's Rights in India. Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(3), 1576-1582; Human Rights Watch. (August 4, 2009). Broken System: Dysfunction, Abuse, and Impunity in the Indian Police; https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/08/04/broken-system/dysfunction-abuse-and-impunity-indian-police (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020); Poreddi, V., Ramachandra, R. T., & Math, S. B. (2015). Human rights violations among economically disadvantaged women with mental illness: An Indian perspective. Indian journal of psychiatry, 57(2), 174; Human Rights Watch. (December 19, 2016). Bound by Brotherhood: India's Failure to End Killings in Police Custody. https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/19/bound-brotherhood/indias-failure-end-killings-police-custody (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020).

9 HINDUSTAN TIMES Correspondent. (March 08, 2021). A woman was raped by a police officer of the Kherli police station after she went there to file a case against her husband. The Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/jaipur-news/rajasthan-police-officer-accused-of-rape-suspended-with-other-senior-officers-101615197693003.html; Bussell, J. (2018). When do middlemen matter? Evidence from variation in corruption in India. Governance, 31(3), 465-480; Gupta, A. (2017). Changing forms of corruption in India. Modern Asian Studies, 51(6), 1862-1890; Naz, G. N. (2017). Corruption in India: causes and remedial measures. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(4), 901-904; Verma, A., & Sharma, R. (2019). Combating corruption in India. Cambridge University Press; Rather, M. A., Sangma, J. T., & Akhter, G. (2020). Human Rights and Violations of Women's Rights in India. Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(3), 1576-1582.

10 (HINDUSTAN TIMES Correspondent. (March 08, 2021). A woman was raped by a police officer of the Kherli police station after she went there to file a case against her husband. The Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/jaipur-news/rajasthan-police-officer-accused-of-rape-suspended-with-other-senior-officers-101615197693003.html; Roberts, K. (Oct. 2, 2020) Manisha Valmiki's horrific death shows how little has changed in India for women, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/manisha-valmikis-horrific-death-shows-little-has-changed-india/

11 Press Trust of India, (Oct. 3, 2020). Rape victim dies by suicide in MP's Narsinghpur; family alleges police refused to register complaint, https://www.firstpost.com/india/rape-victim-dies-by-suicide-in-mps-narsinghpur-family-alleges-police-refused-to-register-complaint-8875311.html (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020); Ahmad, Q. F. (2020). Dalit Teen Gang-raped Inside Etah Toilet, Family Accuses Police of Inaction. https://in.yahoo.com/news/dalit-teen-gang-raped-inside-081516028.html; Press Trust of India, (Dec. 24, 2020). Gangrape Survivor Says Cop Raped Her at Police Station. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/gangrape-survivor-says-cop-raped-her-at-police-station/ar-BB1ccQTT?li=BBnb7Kz (Last accessed: Jan. 1, 2021).

12 Hindustan Times Correspondent. (March 08, 2021). A woman was raped by a police officer of the Kherli police station after she went there to file a case against her husband. The Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/jaipur-news/rajasthan-police-officer-accused-of-rape-suspended-with-other-senior-officers-101615197693003.html; Deswal, V. (August 12, 2019). Refusal to register FIR in rape cases: Legal Implications. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/legally-speaking/refusal-to-register-fir-in-rape-cases-legal-implications/ (Last accessed Dec. 10, 2020); HINDUSTAN TIMES Correspondent. (Dec. 1, 2019). Three policemen suspended over delay in filing FIR in Hydrabad rape, murder case. The Hindustan Times. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/legally-speaking/refusal-to-register-fir-in-rape-cases-legal-implications/ (Last accessed Dec. 10, 2020); Qureshi, H (2018). Whether India Is Ready for Online FIRs. Indian Police Journal. 2018. Vol 65(4). pp 73-80; D'Souza, R. (2020). Police Atrocities in Legal Terrorism. Legal Terrorism in Matrimonial Disputes-Solution for Legal Terrorism, Violence Against Men-False Accusation of Sexual Harassment. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3699991; FirstPost Staff. (Nov. 2014). Back to the bad old ways: Delhi police refused to file FIR in JNU rape case. Firstpost. https://www.firstpost.com/india/back-to-the-bad-old-ways-delhi-police-refused-to-file-fir-in-jnu-rape-case-1800503.html (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020); Choudhury, R. N. (Oct 2020). ‘Gangrape victim’ kills self as cops refuse to file FIR in MP. Deccan Chronicle. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/crime/041020/gangrape-victim-kills-self-as-cops-refuse-to-file-fir-in-mp.html (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020); Mail Today Bureau. (March 8, 2013). Police officers to face jail term for refusing to lodge FIR in cases of sexual assault. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/police-officers-to-face-jail-term-for-refusing-to-lodge-fir-in-cases-of-sexual-assault-155600-2013-03-08 (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020); Singh, K. (Aug. 31, 2018). Upset with police refusing to file FIR, rape victim commits suicide. Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/upset-with-police-refusing-to-file-fir-rape-victim-commits-suicide/articleshow/65614482.cms (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020); Press Trust of India, (Dec. 24, 2020). Gangrape Survivor Says Cop Raped Her at Police Station. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/gangrape-survivor-says-cop-raped-her-at-police-station/ar-BB1ccQTT?li=BBnb7Kz (Last accessed: Jan. 1, 2021).

13 (Choudhury, Oct 2020; Singh, Aug. 31, 2018).

14 For a definition of complexity science, see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235356744_What_Is_Complexity_Science_Really

15 Ruhl, J. B., Katz, D. M., & Bommarito, M. J. (2017). Harnessing legal complexity. Science, 355(6332), 1377-1378.

16 See, Ruhl, supra.

17 Goswami, J. J. (2018). Legal Informatics, Doctoral dissertation, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology.

18 Lettieri, N., & Malandrino, D. (2018, July). Cartographies of the legal world: rise and challenges of visual legal analytics. In 2018 22nd International Conference Information Visualisation (IV) (pp. 241-246). IEEE.

19 Lettieri, N., Altamura, A., & Malandrino, D. (2017a). The legal macroscope: Experimenting with visual legal analytics. Information Visualization, 16(4), 332-345CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 Lettieri, N., Altamura, A., Faggiano, A., & Malandrino, D. (2016). A computational approach for the experimental study of EU case law: analysis and implementation. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 6(1), 56CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Lettieri, N., Malandrino, D., & Vicidomini, L. (2017b). By investigation, I mean computation. Trends in Organized Crime, 20(1-2), 31–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Rossi, A., Ducato, R., Haapio, H., Passera, S., & Palmirani, M. (2019, February). Legal Design Patterns: Towards A New Language for Legal Information Design. In Internet of Things. Proceedings of the 22nd International Legal Infomatics Symposium IRIS. Editions Weblaw (pp. 517-526).

23 Waltl, B., and Vogl, R. (2018). Explainable artificial intelligence the new frontier in legal informatics. Jusletter IT, 4, 1-10.

24 Dhar, D. (October 2020). Hathras Rape: A Caste Continuum. Outlook India. Retrieved 2 October 2020; Nandy, A. (Oct. 1, 2020). “‘This Is All Drama‘: Accused's Kin on Hathras Dalit Girl's Assault”. The Quint. Retrieved 1 October 2020; Press Trust of India, (Oct. 3, 2020). Rape victim dies by suicide in MP's Narsinghpur; family alleges police refused to register complaint; https://www.firstpost.com/india/rape-victim-dies-by-suicide-in-mps-narsinghpur-family-alleges-police-refused-to-register-complaint-8875311.html (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020)

25 Press Trust of India (Oct. 3, 2020). Rape victim dies by suicide in MP's Narsinghpur; family alleges police refused to register complaint. https://www.firstpost.com/india/rape-victim-dies-by-suicide-in-mps-narsinghpur-family-alleges-police-refused-to-register-complaint-8875311.html (Last accessed: Dec. 10, 2020)

26 This discussion is inspired by the comprehensive work of Engstrom and Gelbach (2020).

27 Markou, C. (2017). Are We Ready for Robot Judges? Discover Magazine; Volokh, E. (2019). Chief Justice Robots, 68 Duke L.J. 1135Google Scholar.

28 Fitch, A. (2020). Would You Trust A Lawyer Bot with Your Legal Needs? Wall. St. J.; Gary Marchant, G., Covey, J. (2018). Robo-Lawyers. Litigation Journal; Markovic, M. (2019). Rise of the Robot Lawyers. Ariz. L. Rev., 61, 325Google Scholar.