PREFACE

Evaluation Study of eCourts Integrated Mission Mode Project

The application of information in India is spreading over the past few decades. This has set the stage for the computerisation of courts at the district level to increase transparency and efficiency in India’s judicial system. The eCourts Integrated Mission Mode Project is one of the National e-Governance projects being implemented in district/subordinate Courts in India. The project was approved in 2010. The main objective of eCourts is to provide services to all key stakeholders, including the judiciary, district and subordinate courts, and citizens, litigants, and lawyers through ICT enablement of all district and subordinate courts. In district and subordinate courts automation of the case management workflow has been completed through the use of appropriate hardware and software. Citizens, including lawyers and litigants, have benefited through this project. Citizens can avail of the ecourt services through the Judicial Service Centre at a court complex.

NCAER was requested to carry out an assessment study to evaluate the effect of computerisation in district and subordinate courts across the country by the Department of Justice, Government of India. The study covered five High Courts that represent five geographical regions in India, 100 court complexes, and 300 district and subordinate courts covering 1,936 respondents at the HC and district/subordinate court levels the High Courts were selected on the basis of an infrastructure index and the geographic location of all High Courts.

The NCAER assessment study has found that the eCourts project has created awareness about computerisation among courts and about the application software, namely, Case Information System, among the important stakeholders; the project has achieved more than 90 percent in ICT deployment in terms of asset creation; the eCourts project is able to save time in the work process through computerisation. The findings are important for the adoption of appropriate policies in the next phase of the eCourts project.

Shekhar Shah

Director-General, NCAER

February 10, 2015