Abstract:
The basic features of a well-functioning dispute redress system is its ability to sole dispute within a definite and reasonable time period and also its easy and inexpensive accessibility for all. Technology is proving very handy here by bringing more inclusiveness, affordability and efficiency in the system.

With the exponential growth in technology legal scholars and policy makers have recognized the opportunity to harness the potential of new technology in creating new pathways to improve access to justice. There has been constant efforts to infuse new technologies in traditional legal structure in order to make it efficient and effective to deal with the challenges of present times. This project is going to deal with describing the role played by technology in improving access to justice and making justice delivery system effective and efficient.

This project is also going to describe how some countries have harnessed technology in order to improve their justice delivery system like, United States of America, United Kingdom and India. This project will also deal with how this digitalization of justice system can help in achieving STD 16 which is to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels[1].

Introduction:
There is widely acknowledged access to justice crisis all around the world. People experience lot of barriers in accessing justice like financial, physical, psychological and informational. These limitations are faced acutely by members of marginalized people such as persons belonging to religious, social or ethnic minorities. In order to solve this issue mostly the focus has been on refining court procedures and increasing access to legal representation.

Proper access to justice is must for enforcement of rights and maintaining law and order. If there is no proper access to justice, all the rights and liberties relegate to nothingness, law and order would be undermined, leading to confusion and jungle raj. India is a country with more than one billion population and ensuring access to justice to all is an acute problem for its government. In order to solve this issue government has tried lot of ventures like organizing lok adalts and strengthening alternate dispute redressal mechanisms.

Technology is proving as an effective panacea to this predicament. It is really revolutionizing the dispute redressal system in India. By infusing new technology in courts, they are getting effective, efficient and fast. With the exponential growth in technology legal scholars and policy makers have recognized its role and importance in creating new pathways to improve access to justice.

Discussion:
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948", recognizes two rights pertaining to access to justice in the following articles:

Article 8: "everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or law"[2].

Article 10: "everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him".

"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966", Article 2(3): "Each state party to the covenant undertakes:

• To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.
   
• To ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his right thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any competent authority provided for by the legal system, and to develop the possibilities of judicial remedy"[3].

With the exponential growth in technology legal scholars and policy makers have recognized the opportunity to harness the potential of new technology in creating new pathways to improve access to justice. There has been constant efforts to infuse new technologies in traditional legal structure in order to make it efficient and effective to deal with the challenges of present times. The best examples of this hybridization can be cited as online dispute resolutions (ODR), smart contracts and e-courts.

Online dispute resolution:
Online dispute resolution or ODR can be simply defined as resolving the dispute through alternate dispute redressal (ADR) mechanisms with the help of various mediums of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It includes a wide range of forms and approaches like arbitration, mediation and conciliation among others. Parties meet online and solve their differences in a fast, simple, secure and flexible manner.

It can even comprise a hybrid process involving both online and offline methods. ODR is a very new concept and is still at infancy stage, with time it is going to prove as a savior to justice redressal system by getting equipped with the latest technologies. In cross border e-commerce transactions ODR has already added a new chapter by becoming the most preferential dispute redressal mechanism.

Adoption of new technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing and block chain in ODR makes it more effective and efficient in resolving disputes, for example, the use of artificial intelligence as mediator in a mediation process totally revolutionizes it, there is no need to appoint a mediator, and there is no scope of partiality on behalf of mediator, thereby making it more reliable, predictable and fast.

Smart contracts:
The infusion of the block chain in contracts has given rise to the smart contracts. Smart contracts may be defined as the advanced application of the block chain that go beyond the creation of virtual currency. This means that the block chain which is basically an electronic public ledger can also be used in materializing contractual relationships.

"A smart contract is an automated software program built on a block chain protocol, basically smart contracts are made possible by general-purpose computation that takes place on the block chain. They can be used for allocating digital currency between two parties, when the requirements established in the program/contract are fulfilled. In short, smart contracts are programmable contractual tools, they are contracts embedded in software code.

Thus, a smart contract can include the contractual arrangement itself, governance of the preconditions necessary for the contractual obligations to take place and the actual execution of the contract. One of the most interesting aspects of smart contracts is the possibility of self-enforcement: self-execution adopts the role of conflict prevention, as it limits the scope of potential disputes arising from the transaction. To say that smart contracts are self-enforceable means that the software executes the contract, e.g. allocates digital assets autonomously and regardless of trust between the parties.

Receiving a payment for sold goods is then no longer dependent on the willingness of the debtor to make the payment nor affected by bankruptcy proceedings that take place after entering the contract. The contract executes its content autonomously according to embedded contract terms e.g. the digital assets placed within the contract are allocated by the software and no external monitoring of contractual obligations or enforcement is needed"[4].

Electronic courts or e-courts:
Electronic courts or e-courts may be simply defined as online courts where all the judicial proceedings happen online with the help of various mediums of information and communication technology (ICT). This system has really revolutionized court system. It has helped in solving various issues which are faced in physical court system. People don't need to run to courts for getting access to justice, e-courts have brought courts at their doorsteps.

All the countries around the world are trying their best to utilize this opportunity provided by the ongoing technological revolution to digitize their justice delivery system in order to make them more efficient, effective and inclusive. Some of the best practices adapted by the countries mainly United States of America, United Kingdom and India are as following:

United States of America:
American Bar Association in 2016 in its report titled as "Report on the future of legal services in the United States" that state bar organizations explore how legal services are delivered by entities that employ new technologies and internet-based platforms and then assess the benefits and risks to the public associated with those services[5].

Among all countries USA has always been on the forefront in availing the benefits of technological revolution. In order to make the justice delivery system more efficient, the courts there are actively maintaining court records electronically, enabling electronic filing of pleadings and orders and building high-tech courtrooms for evidence presentation[6].

The federal courts use electronic case management known as "Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF)" since 1990s. "The success of the CM/ECF was visible in myriad ways, as lawyers save time, no longer queuing up to file cases, documents filed are easily accessible from anywhere one chooses to work, and transparency and trust in the American judiciary has increased many fold"[7].

United Kingdom:
"Lord Hodge", deputy president of the Supreme Court of United Kingdom in his speech in the Dover House, London asserted the dire need of getting along with latest technology in the following words "my theme tonight is of the need for law makers, regulators and judges in the united kingdom to be alive to the demands for change that technology creates for the legal profession. The executive branches of government, our legislators and courts will have to adapt to the effects of technological change, to embrace its opportunities and to control its downside".

"Money claim online (MCOL)" is an online service for the e-filing of money claims in England and Wales. It helps in issuing a money claim24 hours a day, 7 days a week through a user-friendly website. The website allows for filing documents, checking claim status and requesting both judgment and enforcement.

Similarly "CASEMAN", a part of local county courts management system performs myriad tasks like creating initial court records for registration of cases, issuing summons and monitoring them, storing electronic copies of evidence and generating cause list, updating records, maintaining court diary and automatically generating other relevant documents and records[8]. Electronic filing became mandatory for all professional users in the business and property courts in London from 2017 and has expanded to other courts in the country.

India:
"Justice B N Srikrishna", in his chapter in a book "India 2030: Rise of a Rajasic Nation" mentions that the biggest challenge in the coming decade will be the use of technology in courts. Artificial intelligence will not only help organize cases, it will also bring references into the judgment at a speed not seen so far. Technology will ensure that those who do not have access to justice due to distance will not be excluded any more.

"Justice Chandrachud", while speaking at the virtual inauguration ceremony for e-projects of the Kerala High Court said that virtual courts are being used for traffic or pity offences and they can be expanded to cover summary trials of various kinds of offences. Virtual Courts are citizen centric. It is an attempt from the judiciary to tell the citizen that "we value your time". It leads to judicial productivity, the work of 20 judges in Delhi is now being handled be one judge.

In India, in 2004, government of India introduced "National e-Governance plan" in order to equip various government organizations with technology and e-courts was the part of it. It was divided into certain phases and phase 1 and phase 2 have already been completed. In these two phases' lot of applications and software programs like Case Information System, e-filing, e-payment, national service and tracking of electronic processes (NSTEP), video conferencing, virtual courts, national judicial data grid and variety of mobile applications have been successfully tried, tested and implemented in some courts.

In July 2019first virtual court was inaugurated at Tis Hazari court, Delhi. Phase 3 of the e-court project which is under preparation envisions adaption of cloud technology, big data mining and processing through block chain technology and artificial intelligence[9]. In the wake of COVID-19, the Supreme Court as well as the other High Courts of India have resorted filing and hearing of urgent matters online. Gujarat High Court even opted for live court sessions.

Rwanda:
Rwanda is using the "Electronic Filing System (EFS)" to move towards paperless court services since 2011. Within just one year about 13,507 cases were filed through EFS and since then it is only increasing. Rwanda's "Integrated Electronic Case Management System (IECMS)" provides a single unifying platform that connects all institutions belonging to the justice, reconciliation, law and order sector. It serves as the single point of entry for recording and securing case information and efficiently sharing information among sector institutions[10].

All the above discussed practices of using technology in justice delivery systems in some countries clearly exemplify that how this has led into making courts more efficient and time bound, affordable, litigant-centric and much more accessible. This technology driven court systems has led to more transparency and accountability, leaving very less scope for corruption and mismanagement.

All this is helping in achieving the sustainable development goal (SDG) 16 which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions. By improving access to justice, technology is tremendously helping in promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. It is also helping in making institutions effective, accountable and inclusive. Digitalization leaves less scope for mismanagement and corruption. Easy access to justice means more power to people, they can easily get their grievances and complaints redressed.

This helps in strengthening rule and law. With the help of technology courts are able to work much more efficiently and smoothly. Technology has brought justice redressal system at the doorsteps of common man. It has proven death knell to the maladministration and corruption, resulting into sustainable development.

Conclusion:
The basic features of a well-functioning dispute redress system is its ability to sole dispute within a definite and reasonable time period and also its easy and inexpensive accessibility for all. Technology is proving very handy here by bringing more inclusiveness, affordability and efficiency in the system.

However digitization of system cannot prove much promising until it is intended by the people who handle it. Jessica der Matos Sian, the Registrar of Digital Practice at the Court, based in Sydney, says that "technology alone doesn't improve the legal system but people, processes and strategies together with the assistance of technology, can make the legal system better". Technology cannot be a panacea to all problems faced by the society with reference to justice delivery system until and unless it is being infused with right kind of processes and strategies.

Digital divide is the one big issue which we need to deal with otherwise this digitization of courts could prove more harmful than beneficial, leaving behind those who cannot afford it. Digital divide can be because of various factors like financial, physical or psychological and it needs to be dealt with accordingly. Here the role of policy makers and legal scholars becomes very important and essential in bridging this gap.

Well devised laws like data protection and privacy laws and good public awareness programs are most important in bridging this divide. Advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning or Cloud Computing are the new norm and we have to train ourselves to live with it if we don't want to lag behind and reap the benefits of these latest technologies. Online Dispute Resolution or ODR has many advantages over other mechanisms of dispute resolution.

It is cost-effective, time bound, litigant centric and above all accessible. It has already proved its effectiveness and efficiency, E-BAY can be a perfect example cited here which has resolved millions of cases through ODR. This is the reason that all around the world, governments are trying their best to establish strong ODR systems in their nations.

The emergence of new technologies like block chain and artificial intelligence suggests the opening of a new chapter in Online Dispute Resolution, where technology is used as a mediator, as a means of entering contractual relations and as a means of self-enforcement. The technology has the potential to change our understanding of contractual law, of dispute resolution and enforcement and the divide between public and private use of power.

New technology has the potential to revolutionize interactions between governments, businesses and citizens in a manner that was unfathomable just a decade ago. In this project we have explored how new technology can offer intelligent negotiation support and how much it is proving useful in resolving conflicts. By taking the example of a smart contract based on block chain and virtual currency we have seen how technology is helping in reducing and resolving cross border disputes.

Further, the use these technologies also increase the speed at which disputes can be brought to a conclusion, make significant reductions in the cost of litigation, and bring about certainty in dispute resolution. Much of mentioned technology is still at infancy stage, but once it gets firmly established, it is definitely going to have profound effect on legal services.

However, in order to make this really a successful venture, it is necessary that the lack of requisite technology does not keep some people out of it and thereby putting them at disadvantageous position. It will be only successful when all people can afford it, when all people are able to operate it and when people can trust on it.

Bibliography:

1. UNITED NATIONS, Department of economic and social affairs, available at https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16
2. ANNE WALLACE, Virtual justice in the bush: The use of court technology in remote and regional Australia, JLIS, Available at http://www.jlisjournal.org/content/Wallace19.pdf
3. Prof. Prakash N. Chaudhary, Use of information technology in Indian court administration, Chronicle of the Neville Wadia Institute of Management Studies and Research, available at http://nevillewadia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/gs6.pdf
4. Lord Hodge, Technology and the law, the Dover house lecture 2020, London, Available at https://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/speech-200310.pdf
5. United Nations, Peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet, available at https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
6. United Nations Human Rights Council, International covenant on civil and political rights, available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
7. Riikka Koulu, Block chains and Online Dispute Resolution: Smart Contracts as an Alternative to Enforcement, available at https://script-ed.org/article/blockchains-and-online-dispute-resolution-smart-contracts-as-an-alternative-to-enforcement/
8. American Bar Association, Report on the future of legal services in the united states, Available at https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/abanews/2016FLSReport_FNL_WEB.pdf
9. JUDEGE HERBERT B. DIXON JR., Technology and the courts: a futuristic view, Available at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/judicial/publications/judges_journal/2013/summer/technology_and_the_courts_a_futurist_view/
10. J. MICHAEL GREENWOOD AND GARY BOCKWEG, Insights to building a successful e-filing case management service: U.S Federal Court experience, International journal for court administration, June 2012
11. COFIDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY, Use of technology in Indian justice system, p. 15, Available at https://www.ciiblog.in/use-of-technology-in-the-justice-system/
12. Annexure A to M to Main Report of Objectives Accomplishments in Phase II, available at https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/files/, last accessed on April 20, 2020.
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End-Notes:

1. UNITED NATIONS, Department of economic and social affairs, available at https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal16
2. United Nations, Peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet, available at https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
3. United Nations Human Rights Council, International covenant on civil and political rights, available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
4. Riikka Koulu, Block chains and Online Dispute Resolution: Smart Contracts as an Alternative to Enforcement, available at https://script-ed.org/article/blockchains-and-online-dispute-resolution-smart-contracts-as-an-alternative-to-enforcement/
5. American Bar Association, Report on the future of legal services in the united states, Available at https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/images/abanews/2016FLSReport_FNL_WEB.pdf
6. JUDGE HERBERT B. DIXON JR., Technology and the courts: a futuristic view, Available at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/judicial/publications/judges_journal/2013/summer/technology_and_the_courts_a_futurist_view/
7. J. MICHAEL GREENWOOD AND GARY BOCKWEG, Insights to building a successful e-filing case management service: U.S Federal Court experience, International journal for court administration, June 2012
8. CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY, Use of technology in Indian justice system, p. 15, Available at https://www.ciiblog.in/use-of-technology-in-the-justice-system/
9. Annexure A to M to Main Report of Objectives Accomplishments in Phase II, available at https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/ files/Annexures%20of%20the%20report.pdf, last accessed on April 20, 2020.
10. Synergy international systems, available at https://www.synisys.com/impact/featured-projects/rwandas-justice-sector-integrated-electronic-case-management-system/