Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) And AI-Enabled Legal Aid In India: Advancing Access To Justice Or Creating New Challenges
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
Snigdha Singh, Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Science
Rishabh Pandey, Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Science
1. Introduction:
Access to justice is fundamental right, recognized under international organization such as the universal declaration of human rights (UDHR) and international covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR), these conventions are the backbone of rule of law and democratic governance. Significant growth in technology integrates it with law. Digital platforms, ecourts and online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanisms have expanded the reach of legal service. Such transformation makes dispute resolution, efficient, cost effective and fast. In India, initiatives like e-court and ODR framework aim to reduce backlogs of cases and improve procedural efficiency.
International organizations like United Nations Development Program (UNDP), emphasize that accessibility to justice is central to achieving sustainable development goal 16 (peace, justice, strong institution). Recent reports of UNDP highlight that despite the digital advancement and growth in society, marginalized & poor face barriers like poor legal awareness, inadequate legal aid and technological exclusion.
This digitalization of justice also raises concerns. The United Nations has warned that technology creates a fast and efficient justice delivery system but unequal access to internet and poor digital literacy may deepen existing inequalities and undermine fairness. Also, judicial precedents in India recognize access to justice as fundamental right under article 14 & 21, although not absolute but balances against misuse of legal procedure. In the landmark cases
