Judiciary Can’t Confine Within Buildings, Future Judges Will Need To Diversify From a Mere Legal Specialist: CJI

Indian Judiciary of the future cannot remain confined within imposing buildings or constrained by geography and at the same time a judge of the future cannot remain confined within the identity of a legal specialist or jurist alone, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said. Delivering the 4th Ashok Desai Memorial Lecture on the topic of “Re-Imagining Justice: The Indian Judiciary 50 Years. Hence, CJI Surya Kant said, "Indian Judiciary of the future cannot remain confined within imposing buildings or constrained by geography…it must transform into a service that is accessible, responsive, and seamlessly integrated into the daily lives of citizens. In such a vision, justice is no longer something one must travel to seek, but something that reaches

the individual efficiently, equitably, and with a sensitivity to the realities of a changing society”The head of the Indian judiciary also predicted that the very idea of a ‘judge’ will undergo an immense transformation. “The judge of the future cannot remain confined within the identity of a legal specialist or jurist alone. The disputes that will come before the courts will require an understanding that extends far beyond Statutes and Precedents. “For instance, I presume they may find themselves grappling with questions of synthetic biology, which may raise liability issues where life itself is engineered. Or something as technical as deep-sea mining will test the limits of environmental responsibility in spaces that lie outside our idea of conventional jurisdiction. Perhaps virtual communities will generate conflicts between individuals or even entities that are rooted not in physical proximity, but in shared digital existence. In such a landscape, the judge of the future will need to be an extremely nuanced and interdisciplinary thinker, capable of engaging with science, technology, ethics, and society with equal ease”, he said.

'Nature Of Disputes Will Change Too'

The Chief Justice said, alongside this evolution in judicial capacity, the nature of disputes themselves, I reckon, will change in fundamental ways. Consider the idea of something as intricate and fast developing as digital sovereignty. In the future, financial transactions may increasingly take place within decentralised ecosystems, governed not by national boundaries but by coded protocols. Disputes arising from decentralised autonomous organisations, or interactions within immersive digital environments, will challenge traditional notions of jurisdiction.“As we look ahead to this future, one thing becomes clear. The Indian Judiciary of 2076 will not be defined solely by the technologies it adopts or the structures it builds. It will be defined by its ability to remain moored in constitutional values while adapting to a world that is changing in ways we are only beginning to understand. As we look to the next fifty years, our responsibility is clear. Even as the law becomes increasingly sophisticated in its methods, it must remain deeply attentive to the human condition. Efficiency must not come at the cost of empathy, and innovation must not displace accessibility,” said CJI Kant.