This article is written by Urvi Bagaria.
There is a quiet shift taking place in the field of law and justice in India. Like Margaret Mead stated, a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens or changemakers are taking on the audacious goal of transforming the future of law and justice in India.
In 2018, Vayam and Humlab launched the Agami Prize to find and support innovations that have the potential to increase quality, effectiveness, inclusion and access in and around law and justice. The applications from over 166 changemakers reveal some very interesting patterns and opportunities. Here are five interesting ones, you should know!
1. Data: Making its presence felt in the legal system
Big data lies at the very core of the practice of law. Digitisation, organisation, and synthesis of legal data can radically increase transparency, accountability and efficiency within the field. We are seeing many applications of legal and judicial data such as case management, practice management, fraud prevention, prison reform, and improvements in court processes. This holds out the promise of being complete game-changers for the legal industry. There is an upward momentum to shift from experience-driven policy reform to data-driven policy reform.
2. Colleges as hubs: The sooner, the better
26 of the 166 participating initiatives in the Agami Prize were founded whilst the founders were still in college. Despite institutional apathy – and occasional outright hostility – and a lack of resources, students are increasingly more interested in launching their own ventures. With access to dedicated time, technology infrastructure, institutional encouragement, and seed financial support, law schools (and other universities) can become innovation hubs for law and justice in the future. Additionally, with a pool of knowledge and readily available young workforce, university-led innovation hubs serve as a smart investment opportunity.
3. Non-law professionals: Making the system more inclusive
The often opaque language of the law and poor understanding of its systems and processes is a barrier to people from other disciplines understanding law and legal systems, leave alone solving their legal problems. It is in this context that we were delighted to find a healthy participation of technologists, journalists, media, finance and business professionals in the initiatives applying for the Prize. An increasing number of non-law professionals are seeing law and justice as a domain they can operate in to solve problems for social and commercial outcomes.
4. Digitisation: A way of everyday functioning
The legal industry and systems of law and justice are still in the early stages of adopting digital tools, using digitised data, and managing professional digital identities. With the steady entry of millennials into these systems, this migration is happening faster and faster. Nearly 50% of participants in the Agami Prize are using technology in a significant way, enabling previously offline work to happen digitally, such as in practice management, legal research, legal education, and case management. In the next five years we expect that the sector will largely complete its transition into the digital age.
5. Citizen Participation: A Two Way Equation
The dominant approach in the legal and justice delivery system has so far been to ‘service’ citizens. Citizens have primarily been seen as beneficiaries who need access to legal services or other support by lawyers and other actors in the legal system. Interestingly, 17 Agami applicants see citizens as active participants in shaping our policies and legal institutions. Their efforts aim to engage citizens in the lawmaking process, enable citizens to share their legal concerns, and participate in building trust-worthy state institutions. We see this as a promising step towards democratising the field of law and justice.
To know more about the landscape of innovation in the legal sector, read here: https://www.agamiprize.org/agamiscape/
