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24 Supremo Amicus [452] (2021)
Virtual Courts during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Critical Exposition

handle is hein.journals/supami24 and id is 452 raw text is: SUPREMO AMICUS VOLUME 24 ISSN 2456-9704 VIRTUAL COURTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CRITICAL EXPOSITION By Ajay Pal Singh From Army Institute of Law, Mohali Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum - Lord Mansfield' ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the Judicial System. In March 2020, a nation-wide lockdown was imposed in India and the Courts had to cease regular physical' hearings. However, this lockdown period has been used as an opportunity to deploy technology of Virtual Courts to ensure continuous administration of justice. The advantages of these Courts are that they use a remote working system with the help of various software's and the Internet to adjudicate cases and there is limited requirement of actual human presence in the court premises thereby ensuring that working of the Courts doesn't stop due to Covid-19 lockdown related restrictions. This system of Virtual Courts has its own pros and cons. A coordinated effort needs to be undertaken so that the various problems and disadvantages of this system are removed, and that a properly functioning system of 'Virtual Courts' is established with requisite digital infrastructure to ensure administration of justice and maintenance of rule of law. In this paper an attempt has been made to undertake an analysis of the Concept of Virtual Courts i Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum, available at: https://rudrajyotinathray.com/2017/04/19/fiat-justitia- ruat-caelum/ (last visited on March 6, 2021). 2 Corona Virus 2019 W.H.O., available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel- and Pros and Cons of these Courts. Though the Paper is predominantly focused on the recent developments regarding Virtual Courts in an Indian Context, reference has been made to trends in a few foreign jurisdictions as well. KEYWORDS: Virtual Courts, Covid-19, Pros, Cons, Judiciary, Physical, Internet, Advantages, Disadvantages, Infrastructure. Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has been caused by spread of an infectious disease amongst humans caused by the Corona Virus. Covid- 19 has been identified as a public health emergency by World Health Organization2 and it has made a profound effect on Human life. Since it spreads from human contact, Nation-wide Lockdowns were declared by Governments across the world. The administration of justice through 'Conventional Courts' (where actual physical presence of litigants, advocates, and judges is required, evidence and documents are submitted physically, witnesses give their testimony on oath and decision is pronounced in open court) was severely affected. Thus, a new generation of Virtual Courts have emerged which allow continued access to justice remotely/digitally by eliminating requirement of physical proceedings in court premises. While initially these Courts were considered to be pro tempore measure, with passage of time, a realization has dawned upon us that they might be the new normal and are here to stay.3 coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen (last visited on March 1, 2021). 3 D. Bharuka, Hybrid Hearing System, Live Law, February 18, 2021, available at: https://www.livelaw.in/columns/court-case-hearing- www.supremoamicus.org K PIF 6.242

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