Union Ministry of Law & Justice published a report titled ‘Empirical Study to Evaluate the Delivery of Justice through Improved Infrastructure’ which focused on various aspects of Infrastructural issues faced by Chief Administrators, Judicial Officers, Advocates, and Support Staff.

Key Findings of the Report

• Basic infrastructure: ~37.7% of Judicial Officers (JOs) have reported lack of adequate space in courtrooms.
• Human resource: Shortage of JOs with lack of adequate training and skill development to effectively manage workload and maintain a timely disposition of cases.
• Digital infrastructure: Lack of computerisation of the Offices of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and Taluk Legal Services Committee (TLSC).
  • Inability of advocates to cope up with technicality of digitization process, increased burden on support staff due to E-Court missions, etc.
• Other issues with district courts: Lack of cooperation and coordination among all departments of District Court, temporary or casual employment of support staff leads to lack of support within the court system, etc.

Key Recommendations

• Establish an independent IT department equipped with the latest hardware and software with sufficiently trained manpower to manage and service, at District and Taluka courts.
• More emphasis should be laid on sustaining the filed cases in electronic form till the end to increase efficiency.
• Creation of separate Civil and Criminal Courts headed by separate JOs.