Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I Introduction
FEW TECHNOLOGICAL developments are formidable enough to mark turning
points in the history of civilisation. The invention of computers is one such
development. Today they affect every one of us in more ways than we can even
imagine. Computer revolution has influenced all walks of life. These little
machines have substantially changed the life style of most individuals and
especially of professionals throughout the world. According to a scholar, "com-
puters make out many of the bills we receive, and the bank cheques as well.
Computers help to regulate the flow of traffic on a busy city street, tell a
supermarket manager when his stock of detergents is running low, and help a
doctor make his diagnosis." 1 They are creating a lot of jobs. Also they are
eliminating a lot of jobs and changing the nature of many others. As a matter of
fact, computers are affecting "the ways in which we think about the world, and
the ways in which we think about ourselves." 2
An American scholar well known for his works on the topic of 'Computers in
Law*, has made the following observations on the use and significance of com-
puters as research tools:
The computer captures the imagination of many researchers. It offers an
opportunity to store vase quantities of data in a comparatively small
space, the ability to search this data very rapidly and make selections
therefrom and the ability to manipulate or "massage" the data to produce
a result in a format particularly useful to the individual researcher. One
of the advantages frequently touted for computerised legal research is the
possibility of placing into the computer's storage area or memory banks
the full text of whatever document is someday to be retrieved.3
It is appropriate to mention here that whereas the use of computers and other
electronic devices in the legal profession has been advocated in the West for the
last forty years or so, 4 hardly any worthwhile attention seems to have been paid
in India until the recent past towards highlighting their use and significance in this
area except for some occasional writings here and there.5 Among others, one of
1. Michael J. Xavier, "Are You Computer Literate?" The Hindustan Times, p. 8, 31 Jan. 1997.
2. Ibid.
3. Robert P. Bigelow, "The Use of Computers in the Law", 24 (4) Hastings Z.7 707 at 714-15 (1973).
4. In USA, for instance, members of the Bar and academics started giving serious consideration
to the practical application of the computer in the practice of law from the mid-1950s. For details, see
"Comment : Scientific Aids for Legal Research", 31 Chicago-Kent L Rev 236-54 (1953); Lawrence
Perry and Smith Biunno, "Implications of Automation for Lawyers", 49 Library L J 399-410 (1956);
Larry Mehl, "Automation in the Legal World", Proceedings of a Symposium on Mechanisations of
Thought Process 33-39 (1958); John Fred, "Computer Printouts as Evidence", 16 American J Proof of
Facts 245-62 (1965).
5. See, e.g., Deepak Gupta and Virendra Gupta, "Courts and Computers", 17 (3) JILI 469-73
(1975); A.Y. Asundi, "Computerised Legal Information Services: Images, Reflections and Diversi-
ties", Proceedings of the Seminar on Computer and Law, 25-26 Feb. 1989 (19890. N.R. Madhava
Menon, "Computers and the Law : Can We Afford to Wait", in ibid.
the reasons for this indifference appears to be the nearly complete ignorance about
the utility and efficacy of such devices which in turn has perhaps been due to their
exorbitant costs as well as their non-availability. This fact is coupled with the
inability not only of the individual lawyers, law teachers, researchers and other
professionals but even of law firms and institutions of higher learning to afford
such devices for their use by persons working therein respectively. Notwithstand-
ing all this, the consensus that is emerging now in India is that in view of
increasing globalisation of the legal profession, use of computers in this profes-
sion too has become the need of the day.
The object of this paper is to highlight the significance and use of computers
in the present day legal profession. The author has endeavoured to demonstrate
as to how important is the use of computers for lawyers, law teachers and law
courts. In conclusion, he has argued that there is an immediate need for exposing
the legal fraternity in India in general and law teachers and researchers in
particular, to the modern computerised technology so as to enable them to produce
the legal outputs of high standard and quality.
6. For further details, see, Thomas Burris, Teaching Law with Computers : A Collection of Essays
(1979); Mary Ann Mason, An Introduction to Using Computers in the Law (1984).
researcher has to arrange those cards in bibliographical order and hand it over to
the typist. If a single card is wrongly arranged, it is likely to be wrongly typed.
Moreover, if a researcher is engaged in research on a topic on which literature
appears quite frequently in the journals, articles, and newspapers, etc., he may
have to update the text from time to time and very obviously the entries in the
bibliography would also change. The major problem arises when the dissertation
or the thesis is at the typing stage and some significant case is decided by the
higher judiciary or some relevant literature appears which a researcher finds
absolutely important to incorporate in his study. If he is working on a computer,
he need not prepare any bibliographical cards, etc. Once bibliographical entries
are put into the computer's memory, they stay there forever. One can add, remove
or make any type of modification in them without re-writing anything. In case any
entry needs to be dropped at the last moment, one can remove it easily. Similarly,
if any entry in case list or even in the text of the dissertation/thesis is tQ be made
at the last stage, it can be made without any hassle. In this process, the computer
will automatically adjust the new entry and the page sequence would not be
disturbed at all.
Another great advantage of the data processing through computers is that a
researcher can make use of bibliographical sources even after he has submitted the
dissertation/thesis, etc. If he wants to list some of the references for some article
or research paper, etc., there is no need for re-typing them at all. The required
reference can be selected and very easily copied on another computer file opened
by him and the original bibliography stays there without any modification what-
soever. The same is applicable to entries in the list of, (/) cases, (ii) statutes and
glossary of acronyms and abbreviations and even to the chapters, etc.
One of the important benefits of computer-assisted legal research is that the
text of anything typed in the computer can be stored there forever. It can be
changed, modified and/or re-modified by the researcher until even upto the last
day before the text is finally printed. Very obviously, there does not arise any need
for re-writing of the entire text. Moreover, if some paragraph is to be omitted and
another paragraph is to be inserted, there is no need to write the entire page. The
computer adjusts this change automatically. Similarly, the page numbers also
change automatically.
In almost all the cases, a post-graduate student writing an LL.M. dissertation
or a doctoral scholar writing a Ph.D. thesis has to periodically hand over the
written chapter drafts to his/her supervisor/research guide for their comments,
corrections and suggestions, etc. A research scholar has to write the entire draft
and submit to his/her guide. If the guide suggests substantial modifications and
asks for the revised draft, the scholar has to submit the same, too. This is obviously
quite taxing as well as time-consuming for a researcher. Further, some supervisors
insist on accepting only typed versions of the drafts which often proves quite
expensive for the scholar. However, if a researcher has access to computer
facilities even in an institution, it can make a lot of difference. For example, once
the text of the chapter is typed in the computer, it is stored there in its memory.
One may make any number of modifications in such text and it stays there. One
can print the text as many times as one desires. The corrections can be carried out
research paper. The researcher does not need to re-type the paper. The chapter is
already a typed one and a copy can be made separately. This way the original
chapter also stays there in the computer memory and the new folder containing
the article is also stored. All new developments, new case law and new references,
etc., can be inserted in the paper to make it absolutely upto date. Contrary to what
we have in India, in the western countries, a Ph.D. scholar is considered as well
within his right to show and discuss some part/percentage of his thesis even to
one's external examiners. Similarly, the research scholars in these countries are
permitted and rather encouraged to get some part of their research work published
in the form of articles and research papers in journals even before the final
submission of an essay/dissertation/thesis. This goes to the credit of the scholar
and he is appreciated on this account at the time of his/her viva-voce (oral
examination). It encourages a scholar to work more and more as one gets immense
pleasure and satisfaction to see one's own work in print even before a research
degree is finally conferred upon him/her. Thus, computers play a very important
role in legal education and research. 7
As such a post-graduate student, a Ph.D. scholar, a researcher as well as a law
teacher can make the best use of computer in legal education and research.
7. For further details see, W.G. Harrington, "Computers and Legal Research", 56 Am B Ass'n J
1145-53 (1979); John Hamilton, "Computer Assisted Legal Research", 51 Oregon L Rev 666-75
(1972); John Sprowl, A Manualfor Computer-Assisted Legal Research (1976); Miles O. Price, Effective
Legal Research (4th ed. 1979); John Yogis, A Comparison of Automated and Manual Legal Research
: A Comprehensive Study (1981). W.G. Harrington, "A Brief History of Computer-Assisted Legal
Research", 77(3) L Library J 543-56 (1984-85); Gillian Bull, "Computer-Assisted Legal Research",
in R.G. Logan (ed.), Information Sources in Law 337-49 (1986); Nancy Shephardson, "Computers and
the Law : the Desk Top Revolution", Am B Ass'n J, 77-93 (Aug. 1988).
8. See, for example, S. Eidelman, "Micro Computersin the Law Office", Small Business Comput-
ers 7-12 (Sept.-Oct. 1982), Smith Berkow and David Baer, "Law Firms and Word Processors: Current
Status and Future Directions", 23 Law Office Economic and Management 72-88 (Spring 1982); Issac
Asimov, "The Next 70 Years for Law and Lawyers", 69 Am B Ass'n J 65-67 (Dec. 1985); Ian F.G.
Baxter "The Computer and the Lawyer", 13 Canadian Bus L J 444-67 (1987-88).
making use of computers in their day to day chamber work. However, it appears
that their use was primarily confined to the word processing or at the most storage
and retrieval of information relating to their client's cases, etc. Most recently, the
computer manufacturers in USA have come out with powerful computer systems
that enable law firms to even use the internet for everything from legal research
to international communication.9
In India too, computers are now beginning to have a discernable impact on the
management of a lawyer's office. As a matter of fact, a computer offers direct
benefits to a legal practitioner. Computer technology is being used for legal
storage and retrieval, legal analysis and prediction.10 Many lawyers have accepted
the computer in its role as an accounting and book-keeping aid. In essence, there
are still many more unexplored uses of the computer and electronic data process-
ing as an aid to the lawyer in his office management activities.
The data base that a lawyer must research in order to determine the answer
to his client's problem is expanding rapidly. Not only are the legislatures enacting
new laws, but new fields of law are coming into prominence. These, inter alia,
include broadcasting law, consumer protection law, drugs and narcotics law,
education law, election law, environment law, human rights and humanitarian
law, intellectual property law, service law and victimology. All these fields have
developed during the 1980s and early 1990s. Each field brings with it new statutes,
new cases, new treatises and even new case reporters.11 Therefore, a lawyer has
to do a lot of research to find out the most uptodate and most relevant case on his
topic.
Computers can help free lawyers from the drudgery of legal research which
can consume a great block of their time. Computerised legal searching can in
seconds, minutes or hours, perform case research that previously would have
taken weeks or months. Computerised research frees lawyers from the clerical
procedure of thumbing through indices and reference texts as well as eliminating
the possibility of overlooking an important precedent because of the lack of a
computer library, or simply by human error because of boredom, frustration or
fatigue. Computer research lets the lawyer spend the bulk of his time in concen-
trating on the law which the computer gives him instead of spending that time in
a thick of books looking for it.12 Moody explains the entire scenario in the
9. See, Doug Levy, "Lawyers Learn to get Technology on Their Side", The Times of India, p. 13
29 April 1997.
10. For a detailed study on the role of computers in prediction and legal analysis, see, Gerald
Fleischmann and Philip Scaletta, "Use of Computer Technology in Legal Analysis and Prediction",
\\{\) Am Bus L J 251-69 (Spring 1973).
11. In India, for example, even though consumer protection law has developed in the early 1990s,
there are now at least ten Consumer Law Reporters which exclusively publish the case law on consumer
protection in India. Out of these, four prominent reporters are ; (/) Consumer Protection Cases; (ii)
Consumer Protection Judgements; {Hi) Consumer Protection Reporter:, and (/v) Consumer Protection
and Trade Practices Journal, This shows the growing amount of case law and of case law reporters in
one particular field.
12. Gerald Fleischmann and Philip Sealetta, supra note 10 at 254. Also see, Igor Kavass and H.A.
Hood, "Computerised Legal Database : An International Survey", 3-4 Int'l J Legal Information 1 1-27
(1983) and H.A. Hood, "Disk and DAT : Recent Developments in Legal Database and Emerging
Information Technology", id. at 77-90.
following words:
[T]he potential impact of computer science upon the law is great. The
speed of computers makes the bulk of the law relatively insignificant. The
potential flexibility of indexing by computers may render present index-
ing systems obsolete. The lawyer of tomorrow may notice a significant
reduction in his research time, thus increasing his ability to provide
services to his clients. With the removal of the human element from the
actual researching and considering the thoroughness of computers, the
quality of the lawyer's services, as well as the quantity, may increase. If
opposing lawyers have "all" the law, the possibility of ill-founded court
decisions would more than likely decrease, and the possibility of compro-
mise between parties would increase, thereby relieving some of the case-
load burden upon the congested court dockets. 13
13. David Thomas Moody, "Legal Research - Computer Retrieval of Statutory Law and Deci-
sional Law", 19 (2) Vand LRev 905 at 917-18. Also see, James P. Chandler, "Computers and the Case
Law", 3 (2) Rutzers J Computer & L Information 202-18 (1974).
14. For further details on the various types and utility of optical disks which can be used by the
lawyers for storage of the relevant data, e.g., (i) Compact Disk — Read Only Memory (CD-ROM); (//')
Write Once Read Many Times (WORM); (iv) Compact Disk Interactive (CD-I); (v) Erasable Disk; and
(v0 Hybrid Disks, etc., see, F.G. Baxter, supra note 8 at 444-67. Also see, John Bairstow, "CD-ROM:
Mass Storage for the Mass Market", High Technology 44-51 (Oct. 1986). However lor a detailed
glossary of the most frequently used computer jargon, see, Kanwal Puri, "Copyright in Software"
National L. School J 31-53 esp, 49-53 (1989).
15. See, Harpreet Singh Giani, "Lawyers's Best Friend", The Indian Express, p. 13. 19 Nov. 1996.
Over time, experts are expecting the chasm within the legal profession
between the computer-literate and computer-challenged to narrow. Law-
yers are going to be working with clients who are continually working
with technology. If lawyers are intelligent about these developments,
they can keep up with the clients. 16
Thus computers can be of immense use and utility for the modern lawyers and
law firms.
by our courts, it is not possible to trace unreported judgments easily. Feeding them
into a central computer and allowing access to these data banks would be of
considerable assistance to litigants and lawyers.18
In the western countries, computers are now being effectively used in law
courts. For instance, Levy explains the scenario in USA in the following words:
the speed limit, it would still have hit the player's car. The defence argued that
although the impact was not quite as direct at the speed limit, it would still have
been fatal, and thus negligence did not contribute to the accident. The jury agreed
that the accident was caused by the player's failure to look at traffic before
climbing onto the roadway.23
Notwithstanding all this, computer experts acknowledge that the 'Computer
Animation' certainly runs the risk of "creating reality" rather than "illustrating"
it. This is perhaps the reason as to why these experts are asked to testify during
frame-by-frame interrogation thereby explaining the factual basis for the anima-
tion. As a matter of fact, animations are one form of forensic reconstruction —
the attempt to mimic conditions before a crime took place. In fact, forensic experts
have been doing reconstructions for years to try to figure out what a disappeared
person would look like after 10 years or what caused death in a badly degraded
body.24
Experts are of the view that introduction of the computer into the animation
field has opened a whole new world of ideas, as well as making some older
techniques easier to accomplish. Computer animation and computer graphics are
used today to make anything from television logos to architectural layouts. But
when animation is used to 'frame' or 'exonerate' an accused person, everything
is made up of hard facts.25
Another way that computers are changing trials is that lawyers can show a
videotaped excerpt from a witness deposition very quickly. To challenge a
witness's live testimony in court, the lawyer need only wave a bar code reader pen
on his deposition index and the appropriate excerpt pops onto monitors from a CD-
ROM.26
It is primarily due to the recent computerisation facility that the Supreme
Court of India has been able to deal with around 25,000 cases within a short span
of time.27 The Law Ministry at New Delhi is now planning to create an Internet
site where all case law relating to the Supreme Court, High Courts and tribunals
will be available.28 In future, one could also expect computerisation facilities even
at the level of district courts in the country.
V Conclusion
While the author has strongly advocated the use and utility of computers he
would also like to add a few words about the possible and probable misuse of
computers. Even computer experts are of the confirmed view that while their
versatility is a great boom, they are also easy victims to the manipulations of
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Doug Levy, supra note 9 at 13.
27. See, "Only 1 PC of People Pay IT : Minister", The Tribune, p. 2, 18 May 1996.
28. See, "Major Changes in CPC on the Anvil, Says Khalap", The Indian Express, p. 1, 18 May
1996.
criminals with technical expertise. 29 Experts on white collar crime aver that the
chances of a computer crime being detected is one in ten thousand. According to
them, it is also easy for the computer criminal to commit the crime without leaving
behind any sign which makes the investigation and subsequent prosecution ex-
tremely difficult. However, at the same time experts are of the view that the
majority of computer crimes can be prevented with minor care and caution on the
one hand as well as with a well structured crime prevention strategy on the other.30
In the second place, it may also be mentioned that whereas computers have
come to occupy a very significant role in the modern legal research, they only
supplement and can hardly replace library or any other type of manual research.
According to McGuire, there are "no rigid rules governing the precise combina-
tion of the two methods; this will vary according to the issues involved and the
individual lawyers research habits."31 Further he observes :
Thus powerful as the computer may seem, the lawyer cannot be replaced. He
must obtain the facts and characterise the problem. At this point the computer may
perform the research based upon the lawyer's characterisation. After obtaining the
relevant material from the computer search, the lawyer must analyse and evaluate
the material and apply the law based upon this evaluation.
In summing up, it may be observed that the next generation is the generation
of computers. No serious lawyer, law teacher, and legal researcher in India can
do without computers in the next decade. If not highly technical, at least a working
knowledge of computers is a must for every person connected with the legal
profession in whatsoever manner. As indicated above, some of the law publishers
are now offering information/data concerning the decided case law on computer
floppies. Like the western countries, most law libraries in India are also likely to
become fully computerised in future.33 Therefore, the earlier the lawyers, law
teachers, and legal researchers are exposed to the use of computer technology, the
29. In the advanced countries, computer criminals have stolen vast sums from banks; used confi-
dential information available with the public authorities, banks and hospitals to blackmail and extort
money from people; and assisted unscrupulous business competitors to steal information about pro-
cesses, formulate know-how, marketing and manufacturing plans, etc., from rivals. For further details,
see, S. Subramaniam, "Combating Computer Crime", The Hindustan Times, p. 12, 18 April, 1995.
30. Ibid.
31. M. McGuire, "Computer Assisted Legal Research : Some Fundamental Concepts". 3 1 U New
Brunswick L J 232-41 at 239 (1987). Also see, William L. Biaine, "Computers and Legal Research".
50(2) California St B J 100-4 (1975).
32. M. McGuire, id. at 239.
33. For details see, P.K. Patil, "Computerised Library System and the Legal Profession", 1
National L School J, supra note 14 at 101-7.
better it is. In the case of legal research, in the first instance, if an institution can
afford one computer, it may be advisable to systematically expose the faculty
members, research scholars and post-graduate students to the new facility. The use
of computers could also help facilitate the exchange of information amongst the
different law faculties. There may also be a considerable scope of collaborative
research endeavours in the field of law which in turn shall give fillip to the
generation of quality research works which are lacking in this field. Thus the
conclusion is inevitable. There is an urgent need for computerised and scientific
legal outputs from the legal profession as a whole.
Gurjeet Singh*