What is e-Court?

e-Court is a web-based case management solution for all types of law courts that include district courts, county and state jurisdiction agencies. The solution is offered by the US-based Journal Technologies which is a merger of three companies--New Dawn Technologies, ISD Corporation and Sustain Technologies, all developing solutions for various justice agencies.

The browser-based case management solution allows users to access case information from anywhere, update hearing results, manage daily work queue, process cases in court from the bench and save time by maintaining a centralized digital repository for all case documents. Users can automate repetitive tasks like data generation and data entry processes for faster workflow. The access feature allows users to view previous case history, add documents to existing cases, file new cases and make electronic payments from a single interface.

The solution helps to automate processes and create a workflow to make information available to the right users at the right time. It also offers a web API for integrations with various third-party solutions. The e-Court web interface is designed to support multiple devices and is a convenient option for courts, judges, prosecutors, police, and public defenders.

e-Court serves clients mainly across the United States, including The Judiciary of Guam, The High Court of Sierra Leone, State of Oklahoma District Attorney’s Council, and Spokane Municipal Prosecutor-Washington.

Key benefits of using e-Court

• E-Court helps to automate document filling process and manage resources for other relevant court activities.
• E-Court solution helps to extend various court services directly to the public that include viewing case history, dates for next hearings and more.
• The calendar feature allows judges and prosecutors to view workflow scheduled for the day and assign cases accordingly.
• Courts & law agencies can create a centralized digital repository of all case documents and store every record in it for quick search and record access.
• The solution allows setting up business rules for automatically assigning cases to the appropriate docket and reducing manual work.

Your Personalized Case Tracker

• Track your Multiple Cases across all Indian Courts
• Automated Case Alerts via SMS and Email
• Personalized Cause list

CASE ALERTS

Case Watch offers you a one-stop technology-driven solution to help you

• Track your cases
• Get notified of the next date of hearing
• Updates of new Orders uploaded in your case.

Get Updates on the time and listing of your hearing at your fingertips.

Streamlined Court Management for Smaller Courts

e-Court Online is Oas36ty’s plug-n-play style, state-specific package designed for smaller courts that require a lower-cost, out-of-the-box solution. With limited configuration options, e-Court Online is quick to deploy and update, enabling smaller courts – in certain states and at specific levels of court – to manage their case information, documents, deadlines, hearings, outcomes, financials and more, all while respecting staffing and resource constraints.

Built upon the robust Oas36ty’s e-Series Framework, our state-specific solution ensures your court gets the best-case management support without the complexities of comprehensive systems.

Purpose Built for Courts like Yours

e-Court Online includes a valuable array of core e-Series Framework capabilities including: comprehensive document management, business workflows, calendaring and scheduling, security, and 3rd party integration. It also includes additional specialized capabilities for courts such as Judge View, Disposition Widget, Courtroom Orders, Statutes/Act Management, and more.

• Streamlined Solution: Minimal setup effort and all-inclusive annual fees, which encompass hosting and licensing, set eCourt Online apart. Enjoy cost-effective hosting in AWS GovCloud with the added assurance of top-tier security.
• Quick & Agile: Get onboard in just 90-120 days. Fast-track your court’s digital transformation journey.
• Accessible Anytime, anywhere: Courts and authorized users can access case information and online payments thanks to eCourts mobile compatibility, user-friendly interface, and complementary Public Portal and web payment solutions.
• Financial Features: eCourt Online is pre-configured with financial functionalities, localized to the nuances of state, city, and county requirements.
• Effortless Integrations: From the Department of Motor Vehicles to other systems, enjoy seamless integrations with our established APIs. Need more? We’re just a Statement of Work away.
• Complementary Public Portal & ePayment Solutions: We handle cloud hosting, ensuring your court gets the benefits of a public portal - a tailored version of JTI’s acclaimed out-of-the-box public case access offering - and our lauded ePay-it solution for online payments.

What is the e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project?

• As part of the National e-Governance Plan, the Project has been under implementation (under the aegis of the e-Committee SC) since 2007 for ICT development of the Indian Judiciary.
• It is a Pan-India Project, monitored and funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, for the District Courts across the country.
• It is based on the National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary-2005.

The Project envisages:

• To provide efficient and time-bound citizen centric services delivery.
• To develop, install and implement decision support systems in courts.
• To automate the processes to provide transparency in accessibility of information.
• To enhance judicial productivity, to make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost effective, predictable, reliable and transparent.
• The Phase I of e-Courts was concluded in 2015 in which 14,249 Court sites were computerised. Under Phase II, 18,735 District and Subordinate courts have been computerised so far.

What are the Major Initiatives Launched under the Project?

• Case Information Software (CIS): based on customized Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) has been developed.
• National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG): is a flagship project launched in 2015 for monitoring pendency and disposal of the cases in HCs and Subordinate Courts.
• Virtual Courts (as of July 2022, there are 20 Virtual Courts in 16 States/UTs): and using Video Conferencing.
• An eFiling system: has been rolled out for the electronic filing of legal papers with advanced features like online submission of Vakalatnama, eSigning, online video recording of oath, etc.
• e-Sewa Kendras: To make justice delivery inclusive and to mitigate handicaps caused by digital divide, e-Sewa Kendras have been rolled out to provide e-filing services to lawyers and litigants.
• National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP) has: been developed for technology enabled process serving and issuing of summons. It has currently been implemented in 28 HCs.
• Secure, Scalable & Sugamya Website as a Service (S3WAAS) Website: A new divyang friendly website in 13 regional languages to enable them to access the information using assistive technologies.
• IEC and Training: As part of the IEC campaign several initiatives have been taken to educate the Judicial Officers, lawyers and public about the facilities available.

What is the Role of Judiciary in a Changing World and Way Ahead?

• The CJI at an event organized to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the SC, said that the inflow of cases to the SC has increased multifold since its establishment on January 28, 1950.
• In fact, 12,471 cases were disposed of in the last two months alone and the apex court had heard 3.37 lakh cases between March 23, 2020 and October 30, 2022.
• The court has also emerged over the years as a strong proponent of gender justice and human rights.
• There is the need for judges to not let their personal opinions overshadow facts. Such a scenario would result in the destruction of trust in the impartiality of the judiciary.
• The judiciary should work hard to strengthen its very foundation - public confidence.
• The judges should expand their knowledge base, become aware and sensitive of developments in other jurisprudence and be open to learning as disputes may tend to get more and more complex and interlinked.
• Advancement of science can turn issues like the ‘state of mind’ into an area of psychiatry. We are sure to encounter new legal issues like cryptocurrency.
• Aloofness of the judiciary from the general public should not prevent judges from engaging with citizens to make them aware of the judicial work being done.

E-Courts Mission Mode Project

The e-Courts Project was conceptualized on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India with a vision to transform the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts.

E-committee is a body constituted by the Government of India in pursuance of a proposal received from Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India to constitute an e-Committee to assist him in formulating a national policy on computerization of Indian Judiciary and advise on technological communication and management related changes.

The e-Courts Mission Mode Project, is a Pan-India Project, monitored and funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India for the District Courts across the country.

The Project Envisages

To provide efficient & time-bound citizen centric services delivery as detailed in eCourt Project Litigant’s Charter.

To develop, install & implement decision support systems in courts.

To automate the processes to provide transparency in accessibility of information to its stakeholders.

To enhance judicial productivity, both qualitatively & quantitatively, to make the justice delivery system affordable, accessible, cost effective, predictable, reliable and transparent.

Phase-I:

In Phase-I of the e-Courts Project beginning from 2007, a large number of Court Complexes, Computer Server Rooms and Judicial Service Centres were readied for computerization of the District Courts. The District and Taluka Court Complexes covered in Phase-I were computerized with installation of hardware, LAN and Case Information Software (CIS), for providing basic case related services to the litigants and the lawyers.

A large number of District Courts launched their websites for the convenience of the different stakeholders. The Change Management exercise was undertaken to train the Judicial Officers and Court Staff in the use of computers and Case Information System (CIS) was successfully implemented.

The Judicial Officers were trained by the Master Trainers trained from amongst them for continuing training programmes. The CIS Master trainers have trained District System Administrators (DSAs) in the use of CIS. The DSAs have trained all the Court Staff in the use of CIS. The data entry for all pending cases has reached an advanced stage of completion. The Process Re-Engineering exercise was initiated to have a fresh look on the process, procedures, systems and Court Rules in force in the different District Courts under High Courts. The Phase-I concluded with extended timelines up to 30th March 2015.

Phase II:

The Policy and Action Plan Document Phase-II of the e-courts Project, received approval of Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India on 8th January 2014. The government of India sanctioned the project on 4th August 2015. In Phase-II, the covered courts are provisioned for additional hardware with (1+3) systems per Courtroom, the uncovered Courts of Phase-I and the newly established Courts with (2+6) systems per Court Room and the Court Complexes are provisioned for hardware, LAN etc.

The dynamic implementation structure provides for greater participation and cooperation between the e-Committee, the Department of Justice (Government of India), NIC, DietY and Ministry of finance. It provides for High Courts as Implementing Agency, of the project under its jurisdiction. The Infrastructure Model provides for adopting Cloud Computing Architecture which is efficient and cost effective, while retaining the present Servers Rooms as Network Rooms and Judicial Service centers as Centralized Filing Centers. Provision has been made for computerization of offices of District Legal Services Authority; Taluka Legal Services Committee, the National Judicial Academy and the State Judicial Academies for efficient delivery of services and training.

Continuing with the implementation of Free and Open Source Solutions (FOSS), Phase-II has adopted the Core-Periphery model of Case Information Software, the core being Unified as National Core, while the periphery developed according to requirement of each High Court, with NIC, Pune continuing to be the Centre for Software Development and related applications, ensuring software compatibility and interoperability, both horizontally and vertically, with the data including metadata to be unified and standardized.

In Phase-II, all the remaining Court Complexes are provisioned to be connected with Jails and Desktop based Video Conferencing to go beyond routine remands and production of under-trial prisoners. It will also be used for recording evidence in sensitive cases and gradually extended to cover as many types of cases as possible. With an emphasis on Capacity Building of Judicial Officers and Process Re-Engineering, the Phase-II provides for a Judicial Knowledge Management System including Integrated Library Management System and use of Digital Libraries.

The Phase-II of the project lays great emphasis on service delivery to the litigants, lawyers and other stakeholders. The websites will be Accessible Compliant and to the extent possible, the information will be available in the local languages. The applications for mobile phones , SMS and emails are extensively used as platforms for dissemination of information. Kiosk will be provided for every Court Complex. Certified copies of documents will be given online and ePayment Gateways will be provided for making deposits, payment of court fees, fines etc. The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) will be further improved to facilitate more qualitative information for Courts, Government and Public.

ecourts.gov.in:

On 7th August 2013, Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India launched the e-Courts National portal ecourts.gov.in of the e-Courts Project. More than 2852 Districts and Taluka Court Complexes have secured their presence on the NJDG portal ecourts.gov.in and are providing Case Status, Cause lists online with many of them also uploading orders/judgments. The data of more than 7 crore pending and disposed of cases and 3.3 crore orders/judgments of District Courts in India is available on NJDG at present.

With dynamic real time data generated and updated continuously, the NJDG is serving as a source of information of the judicial delivery system for all the stakeholders. It is regularly analyzed for meaningful assistance in policy formation and decision making. The NJDG is working as a National data warehouse for case data including the orders/judgments for Courts across the country with full coverage of District Courts.

The Online Analytical Processing, and Business Intelligence Tools will help in the summation of multiple databases into tables with summarized reports for preparation of informative management systems and dashboards for effective Court and Case Management. The Judicial Management Information System will be helpful in litigations and adjudication pattern analysis and also the impact analysis of any variation in governing factors relating to law, amendments, jurisdiction, recruitment etc. It will also serve as a judicial performance enhancing measure for policy makers to be used for decision support systems.

Composition of the e-Committee, Supreme Court of India for Phase II:

• Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India as Patron-in-Chief of the e-Committee
• Hon’ble Judge In charge, e-Committee.
• Regular Members:

• Member (Processes):  Generally to look after areas relating to implementation and application of Judicial Processes and automation thereof with respect to computerization of the Courts, documentation; aspects of judicial /administrative process workflow of Court functioning, Court Management and their incorporation in CIS, and e-Committee office administration, arrangements of Meetings,l iasoning with and representation at DoJ and other Government Departments for Project implementation, e-Committee correspondence, coordination amongst Members-e-Committee.

• Member (Project Management):  Generally, to look after the Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) of the e-Committee and coordination with DoJ-PMU, also to look after overall day to day functions of the e-Committee-PMU and data collection and collation exercise and thereby consolidation of overall progress status of e-Committee and eCourts Project.

• Member (Human Resources):  Generally, to look after areas relating to management and monitoring of Human Resources provisioned through the Project, ICT training and capacity building of Judicial Officers and Court Officials, Tutorial Material and content development, Change Management exercise including the attitudinal and mindset change aspect.

• Member (Systems): Generally, to look after areas of Operating System and Application Software customization, deployment and development exercise being directly undertaken by the e-Committee and through other agencies like NIC and finalization of design and specifications of the infrastructure of Hardware/LAN/WAN etc. being provisioned under the e-Courts Project.

Role of High Courts:

Implementing Agency: The High Court will be the Implementing Agency for implementation of the Project in the Courts under its jurisdiction. This arrangement, apart from giving the requisite authority to High Court in resolving implementation issues, also entails responsibility to have the Project components implemented on time and the service delivery initiated as per the Litigants’ Charter. For effectively implementing these objectives, the High Courts will continue to have the institutional structure as follows:

• High Court Computer Committee (HCCC)

The High Court Computer Committee consisting of two or more sitting High Court Judges would oversee the various tasks related to implementation of e-Courts Project components. The High Court Computer Committee would recommend various policy measures, administrative restructuring essential for ICT implementation in consultation with the E-Committee.

Only the active participation, supervision and guidance of the High Court Computer Committee can ensure the successful implementation of the Project. This becomes more important in view of the effective decentralization being introduced in the Project and the High Court becoming the Implementing Agency of the Project.

• Central Project Coordinator (CPC)

The Central Project Coordinator would be a person of the rank of District Judge or Senior Civil Judge, who would coordinate the implementation of various modules/ tasks of the Project. The Central Project Coordinator would have a dedicated team of identified supporting staff. The CPC would coordinate with the e-Committee and the vendors, Connectivity Providers, State Data Centre, NIC-Pune team (for CIS) etc. for the implementation of all the tasks entrusted by the E-Committee. The Central Project Coordinator should be associated full time and exclusively for the e-Courts Project. The responsibilities assigned to the Central Project Coordinator are quite onerous and the Chief Justice of the High Court may be requested to nominate a competent and efficient officer as a Central Project Coordinator. The Computer Committee of the High Court should ensure that the Central Project Coordinator adheres to the time lines and targets. Communication channels must be kept open with the e-Committee at all times through ecourts.nic.in that is the PPMS portal. The e-Committee will be accessing these websites on a daily basis. Central Project Coordinators should update the information on a weekly basis. It will be reiterated to the High Courts that the CPC should be exclusively working for computerization only and no other unrelated duty should be assigned to the CPC. Apart from the duties relating to infrastructure deployment, the CPC will also be responsible for overall control of the CIS Periphery Development Team in coordination with the High Court NIC Coordinator for periphery development and its proper integration with CIS Core as per e-Committee guidelines.

• District Court Computer Committee (DCCC)

The District Court Computer Committee would consist of one Senior Additional District Judge and two Sr. Civil Judges or one Sr. Civil Judge One Civil Judge along with District System Administrators and System Administrator trained during the Phase I of the Project. This Committee would perform the overall monitoring of the Project implementation in the district under the overall supervision of the Principal District Judge. This Committee would work in close coordination with the Central Project Coordinator (CPC) of the High Court. The committee would undertake the various tasks detailed in the subsequent chapters, at District and Taluka/Tehsil/Sub-division levels.

• Nodal Officer for Every Court Complex

There will be a Judicial Officer designated as a Nodal Officer in every Court Complex who is well conversant with ICT concepts and takes keen interest in computerization of the Courts. The Nodal Officer of the Court Complex will be the point of day-to-day contact for the CPC of the e-Courts Project. High Court for follow up and monitoring of the Project progress and resolving the implementation issues.

E-Courts Services Mobile Application

1. e-Courts Services App is useful to Citizen, Litigants, Lawyers, Police, Government Agencies and other Institutional Litigants.

2. In the App services are given under different caption viz. Search by CNR, Case Status, Cause List and My Cases.

3. CNR is a unique number assigned to each case filed in District and Taluka Courts in the Country, through Case Information System. Simply by entering the CNR one can get the current status and details of the case.

4. Case Status can be searched by various options like Case Number, Party Name, Filing Number, FIR Number, Advocate Name, Relevant Act of the Case and Case Type.

5. All above options are shown in the App with identifiable separate icons under the Case Status tab

6. Initial search result of case status is displayed with Case Number and names of parties. This helps litigants and lawyers to confirm the identity of the case before they enter into details of the Case.

7. Once the link of case number is clicked, the current case status and entire history of the case is displayed with expandable view captions.

• Case Details caption shows information of Case Type, Filing Number, Filing Date, Registration Number, Registration Date and CNR Number.
• Case Status Option shows information of First Hearing Date, Next Hearing Date, State of Case, Court Number and Designation of Judge.
• Expandable view captions viz. Petitioner and Advocate, Respondent and Advocate, Acts, History of Case Hearing, Judgment and Order, Transfer Details can be viewed when user clicks any of these expandable captions.
• The “History of Case Hearing” caption shows the entire history of the case from first date of hearing to current date of hearing. When we click the date of the hearing shown in the form of a link, it will show business recorded on the clicked date.
• Judgment and Order caption shows links of all judgments and orders passed and uploaded in the selected case. Link of the Judgment and order can be clicked to view the same.
• “Add Case” button can be seen while viewing the case history, on the top right corner “. Any case can be saved with the help of the Add Case button. Once a case is added, the button changes its appearance and caption to Saved Case.

8. In the option named Advocate under Case Status, information can be searched by name of Advocate or his bar Code. Once Bar Code of any advocate registered with system is entered, it generates list of all cases wherein his name is tagged with the case.

9. Date Case List is a unique cause list option which generates a cause list of all cases of Advocate listed before all courts in the Complex.

10. Once a case is added or saved, it is shown in My Cases. Saved Cases can be viewed in the My Cases tab of the app.

11. A Litigant or Lawyer can save all cases of his interest, which will be shown under the My Cases tab with the name of the establishment showing the number of cases saved in that establishment. This helps them to create and manage a Portfolio of their cases or Personal Case Diary for further use.

12. Today’s Cases button shown under the My Cases tab provides the facility to view only today’s listed cases from all cases saved under My Cases. One can select another date to see the cases listed on the selected date.

13. When case details are accessed through My Cases, it gives the option to “Remove Case”.

14. Refresh button is given adjacent to Today’s Cases to update the information saved under My Cases.

15. If any case is not updated or refreshed because of a connection issue, App will show this information as “connection error”.

16. Cause List option generates cause list of selected Court. By default, the current date is selected for generating the cause list. However, one can change this date to any recent future date.

17. Backup facility is provided to take backup of saved cases on mobile Device

• By using Export option backup can be taken in text file format on device
• By using Import option data can be restored in My cases tab.