The Justice Definitions Project
Welcome to the Judicial Data Collaborative Definitions Project!
The Justice Definitions Project (WIKI), is an initiative under the Judicial Data Collaborative, working towards building a comprehensive, credible, and inclusive legal knowledge commons to make legal knowledge simple and accessible to all. It is a community-driven initiative where we aim to bring together and engage people from the legal community across India to make legal knowledge accessible to a wider Indian audience and create a resourceful community to network and share with.
Launched in 2022, the Judicial Data Collaborative (JDC) is a community of individuals and organizations interested in facilitating accessibility, quality, and reliability of judicial data, convened by DAKSH.
You are here because you have agreed to help drive this project, and a member of the editorial team has shared login credentials with you to access this page. In order to get started, we have created a short editing guide to help. If you (or an interested colleague!) don't have login credentials and would like to contribute to this project, please fill out this google form or write to shrutin@dakshindia.org.
The project has three aligned objectives
- To create a public good for those interested in the justice system in India in the form of a research wiki that connects (i) formal institutions, (ii) actors, (iii) core concepts relating to their functioning, (iv) various metrics used to assess their performance, and (v) demonstrates how challenging concepts have been measured. The wiki brings out linkages between official literature, public databases, and current research that analyses these facets. At present, the justice system is being observed through courts, police, and prisons.
- To bring out some of the gaps, overlaps, and challenges in understanding and consuming publicly available data released by Indian justice institutions.
- To act as a platform that allows contributors to discuss, suggest, and agree on actionable ways that official "data creators" may adapt current practices to be more transparent, accessible, and responsible to the public. These suggestions will not only be geared towards researchers but also technologists focused on interoperability of systems & developing tools that consume and add value to justice data.
Structure of Wiki Entries
The Definitions Pages adhere to a common format and align to a prescribed structure as much as possible
Example articles
We've created a small set of sample articles to demonstrate the structure of potential pages and value to students, researchers, journalists, practicing lawyers, and those involved in building technology for the justice system in India. For definitions added to the wiki but not yet reflected in the table, please refer to the consolidated list at wiki uploads to explore the wiki further.