Justice delayed is justice denied. With more than 50 million cases pending in Indian courts today and with around 20 judges per million population, India’s legal system faces an overwhelming backlog. Countries like the US and China have 150 to 300 judges per million, which makes catching up on delayed cases seem nearly impossible. Despite Indian judges working 190 sitting days—compared to the US’s 70 days and the UK’s 150 days—there seems to be no practical solution in sight to reduce the backlog and impart swift justice. This delay not only affects litigants but also has far-reaching consequences on the economy, with numerous projects and legal disputes in limbo.Technology’s Slow Entry into the Legal Arena
While industries like finance and commerce have embraced technology, leading to significant improvements in efficiency, the judiciary has been slower to adapt. The reason behind this hesitation lies in the nature of the law—written words and their interpretation. Before the advent of AI, no technology existed that could meaningfully interpret legal text. Technology had been useful in courts for record-keeping, document search, and procedural automation, but it could never truly “understand” the written word. Given the weight that a single comma can carry in legal documents, trusting machines with interpretation was seen as too risky.
The Game-Changing Potential of Large Language Models (LLMs)
Enter Large Language Models (LLMs), AI models that can, to some extent, mimic human cognition. These models can be trained on vast amounts of legal data. Historically, lawyers and judges have been praised for their encyclopedic memory of laws and precedents. Now, imagine such capability at the fingertips of every individual with access to a mobile phone.
LLMs, much like graduate students, can be trained on legal statutes, case law, and court judgments. Once trained, they can develop a strong grasp of the legal lexicon, recognizing that “consideration” in legal terms refers to something of economic value, for instance. These models can summarize long legal documents in seconds and can even answer specific questions about those documents through a chatbot interface. What once required days of legal research can now be accomplished in minutes with the help of AI.
Challenges and Risks: The Hallucination Problem
However, LLMs are not without their challenges. These models work based on probability, meaning their outputs are not always 100% accurate. There have been instances where LLMs “hallucinate” by fabricating case histories or laws that do not exist. For instance, a lawyer once relied on an LLM-generated research report filled with fabricated case studies, leading to significant issues.
This propensity for hallucination makes legal professionals wary of AI. Fortunately, new techniques like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) have been developed to reduce hallucinations and make LLMs more reliable in legal contexts. As AI training techniques continue to improve, LLMs can be safely used in certain areas of the legal field.
Using AI to Address India’s Legal Backlog
Judiciously applied, AI can be a powerful tool in reducing India’s legal backlog. LLMs could be particularly useful in low-value civil cases, assisting judges by summarizing case facts, referencing relevant laws, and providing legal precedent. While increasing the number of judges is a slow and challenging process, implementing AI to assist with non-criminal cases can ease the burden on India’s overstretched judiciary.
Investing in Legal AI for a Brighter Future
With the right approach, AI can help streamline court procedures, reduce delays, and improve the overall efficiency of the legal system. Alongside legal reforms and greater automation of court procedures, heavy investment in AI for the legal sector can offer a solution to India’s justice bottleneck. The return on investment would be substantial, freeing up GDP currently tied down by unresolved legal disputes and stalled projects.
India’s legal system may not be able to quickly expand its judge workforce, but by embracing AI, the country can take a crucial step toward ensuring justice is no longer delayed—and thus, no longer denied.
