Make courts more accessible

Many countries such as Britain and Canada have institutionalised the live streaming of proceedings. It makes proceedings more accessible and transparent, helps in the dissemination of legal knowledge and reduces rumour-based or erroneous reporting

Renewing his pitch for more transparency in court proceedings, Supreme Court (SC) judge justice DY Chandrachud has said that judicial proceedings must be opened for public viewership. This, he added, has several benefits: It will help the public understand the nature of judicial work, provide legitimacy to the institution, add to the “democratic principle of accountability”, allow the “young and the old of the Bar” to educate themselves, and give citizens a chance to evaluate the behaviour and performance of judges inside the courtroom. “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity,” justice Chandrachud warned.

Gavel for judge, law and order (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The push for live streaming of cases started in 2018 when former Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, set the ball rolling. In June 2021, the top court’s e-comm-ittee released the draft model rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings. At the same time, justice Chandrachud, the chairperson of the SC’s e-panel, wrote to all high court chief justices, calling for suggestions on the draft model rules. After receiving suggestions from stakeholders, the rules will be placed before the full court of the SC, and once cleared, will be notified. Supporting the effort, then Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Parliament in 2018 that the government would help “the judiciary for everything required as we have done in the case of e-courts or videoconfere-ncing in many district courts.” The Parliamentary Panel on Law and Justice in 2020 also stressed the need to upgrade infrastructure to make virtual courts a success. The live streaming of cases, if allowed, will be a valuable addition to the existing set of judicial service-delivery platforms that are already available. The importance and usefulness of the technology backbone became clear during the (ongoing) pandemic when courts, like all other services, were pushed to go online.

Many countries such as Britain and Canada have institutionalised the live streaming of proceedings. It makes proceedings more accessible and transparent, helps in the dissemination of legal knowledge and reduces rumour-based or erroneous reporting. As one of the pillars of this democracy, the judiciary would do well with more public engagement and interest. Of course, there are implementation hurdles and problems of the digital divide, and therefore, the authorities must ensure that access to justice is not dependent on access to technology. But citizens deserve direct and unfiltered access to hear diverse arguments in cases, many of which directly impact their lives and society.