may be a new carrier for visually impaired transcriptionists *Word for word*
*Jamshed Mistry, a Bombay High Court advocate, wants legal transcription to be introduced in courts. * In January, when Advocate Indira Jaising filed a public interest petition in theSupreme Court asking for the introduction of live streaming of court proceedings,advocate Jamshed Mistry saw an appropriate occasion to add a request of his own. Together with Amrish Kilachand (the petitioner), Mistry, a High Court lawyer based in Mumbai, filed an intervention application (IA) asking for legal transcription to be introduced as well. While Hollywood courtroom dramas showcase stenographers taking down every word — there also is an episode of Friends in which Ross yells at the stenographer to “stop typing” — in India it is a little known fact that records of court proceedings are not maintained. Only when the judge asks specifically for something to be written down is it done. Otherwise, what transpired is left to the memory of those in attendance. For Mistry, the IA was the culmination of an idea that struck him when he was arguing a case in Canada in 2013. That was the first time he saw transcription in court, and later, when he read the transcript, he thought it was fantastic. “Even today, when you read it, you actually think you are in court,” he says. A conversation with Susan Anton, the then-law minister and attorney general of British Columbia, cemented his realisation that the Indian legal system needed transcription. She was surprised Indian courts did not use transcription. “‘How do you prepare your appeal?’” Mistry recalls her asking. “She said, ‘That means whatever is argued, you hope, is captured by the judge and written in an order.’ I said, ‘Yes, the word is hope. It causes all sorts of complications.’” Armed with this experience, Mistry, who is in his 50s, began to hunt for a legal basis to ask for transcription. He believes he has found it in Section 12 of the Persons with Disabilities Act, which talks about access to justice. “It says that the depositions should be in a format that is accessible to a person with disabilities. If you interpret that for a person who has a hearing disability, how will he or she know what is happening in court? It has to be transcribed.” Still, the question of affordability remained until Mistry discovered that Parliament and Assembly proceedings are already transcribed. “The technology [speech to text], the intent, the meaning — everything is there a few buildings away [from the Supreme Court] at Parliament House.” In fact, Mistry says, back in the 1970s, Parliament used to change stenographers every five minutes so they did not lose concentration. According to him, the benefits of legal transcription would be numerous: there would be greater access to justice, better court discipline, better record-keeping and better reporting on court proceedings, since reporters would have access to the transcripts, as well as employment opportunities for stenographers. He also wants law schools to adopt the same system in moot courts, so the next generation of lawyers gets used to the system. “I didn’t feel diffident in court knowing that transcription was on and I don’t think any lawyer should,” Mistry says. The first hearing of the case was held on May 3 and the next hearing is scheduled for July 5. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has asked the government to respond to the requests for live streaming and legal transcription. On his part, Mistry is confident the application will succeed since the Attorney General and Jaisingh expressed their support in court. You don’t have commonality like this in these matters. Usually, you will have somebody opposing, somewhere,” Mistry says. “Of course, it will have to start as a pilot project. Start with constitutional cases. Start with final hearing. In sensitive cases, you can have transcripts but you don’t have to give it out. All the systems are in place. In light of this, I can’t see the government saying no. Now it is up to the judiciary.” Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
