Legal Taxonomy

This document is in WIP Stage and will be refined post discussions with the ecosystem and at the court.

Introduction

Various courts in India use different terminologies for aspects like case stages, case outcomes, etc. Within the same court establishment too, there exists little common understanding of meaning assigned to the various terms in use. This creates difficulties in data interpretation for stakeholders, as well as for measuring and comparing court performance. It also hinders any attempts at data based governance in the judiciary, or classification-based workflows in the underlying technology architecture for the judiciary.

What are classification-based workflows?

Classification enables the creation of a rule-based system in the judiciary. This can be understood with the example of classification in the travel and tourism industry. If one opens the MakeMyTrip website for example, then the first order of classification is between flights, homestays, hotels, etc. Once one picks say flights, then the classification consists of dimensions of a flight like departing airport, arrival airport, date of departure, etc. This classification helps the system determine its workflow, basis information entered by the use

As a beginning, an attempt has been made at classifying some aspects of a court system, The definitions used for the classification are notional, for conceptual purposes. These definitions are not meant to alter any definitions provided in the law.

The classification is case-agnostic (cheque bounce, motor vehicle, etc.), and court-agnostic. Corner cases are however not accounted for. Courts may also like to make changes on the top as per local requirements. The classification is an iterative process, and may evolve with changes in processes, laws, etc. As this classification evolves, it may develop to become agnostic of resolution mechanism too, in as much as it may enable interoperability between the court system, and other channels of resolution like Lok Adalats, mediation, arbitration, etc.

It is hoped that through debate and discussion, this classification can be refined, and then be used by the courts.

Taxonomy for Case

The classification for a case has been done with an objective to identify the dimensions of a case that affect the subsequent workflow of the case. For example, a cheque bounce case would go through a different process in the court of law in comparison to a motor vehicle accident case. A motor vehicle accident case in a civil court would go through a different process from that in the criminal court. The second objective of classifying the case is to enable matching the case with the court with jurisdiction over the case

Definition of a case?

A case is the unit at which a legal matter is heard by the court.

Attributes	Values	Definition	Remarks
Nature		The nature of the case indicates whether the case is a civil case or a criminal case.
	Civil	Civil cases include cases to which the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 applies, or cases where a civil wrong as against a criminal offence has been committed. These cases are dealt with by civil courts.
	Criminal	Criminal cases include cases to which the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 or the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 applies, or cases where a criminal offence as against a civil wrong has been committed. These cases are dealt with by criminal courts.
Statute		Statute includes the various legislations, passed before or after 1947, including the Constitution of India, acts legislated by the Parliament, subordinate legislation enacted by the executive, including rules and regulations. Both the substantive provisions (i.e. the provisions that creates the civil or criminal liability), as well as the procedural provisions (i.e. the provisions that indicate the court that should hear the case, as well as the provision that indicates the nature of the pleading, e.g. complaint, original suit, etc.) should be included. E.g. Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881; The Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014, etc.	Each case may relate to multiple statutes, and multiple provisions in a single statute may be applicable for a case.
	Chapter/ Order No. (non-mandatory)	Some statutes, e.g. the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, have provisions in the format Order No. __ Rule No. __. This field is to accommodate these provisions, that are not in the format Provision No. ____.
	Section/ Article/ Schedule/ Rule No.	This includes the provision number of the Statute, in the format Provision No. ___. E.g. Section No. 138.
Nature of the pleading		Nature of the pleading includes whether the case is an original suit, first appeal, complaint, etc. This is distinct from the law under which the case is being filed, e.g. a cheque bounce case could first be a complaint, then a first appeal could be filed from the decision of complaint, an interim application could be filed any time, and so on.	This list is not exhaustive
	Original Suit Complaint Interim Application First Appeal Second Appeal Review Revision Reference	These terms are used in the same manner as they are generally understood in the law. E.g. Original Suit is the pleading filed before the first instance court for the case. First Appeal is filed from the Original case, and so on and so forth.

Taxonomy for Court

The classification of courts has been done with an objective of identifying the high level dimensions of a court that help in identifying the relevant court that has jurisdiction to hear a particular case.

Please note: This is incomplete as it is more relevant for Phase II, as in Phase I we are focusing on only one court. This presently only includes very high level dimensions.

Definitions

Court: Court refers to one court within a court establishment, e.g. Additional District Judge-01 is a court within the court establishment of District and Sessions Judge, South-East , Saket. The court may comprise of one or more judges hearing a case together. Court functions out of one courtroom in a court establishment.

Court Establishment: Court establishment is a collection of courts that works as a single unit at a jurisdiction level. E.g. District and Sessions Judge, South-East , Saket Court Complex: A court complex typically refers to a facility or a group of buildings that houses various courts and associated administrative offices.

Attributes	Values	Description
Nature		The nature of the court indicates whether the court deals with civil cases or criminal cases.
	Civil	These courts deal with cases of a civil nature.
	Criminal	These courts deal with cases of a criminal nature.
Type		The Type indicates whether a court is a regular court, a special court created for the purposes of specific kinds of cases, or a tribunal where the executive has oversight.
	Tribunal	Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies where the executive exercises administrative oversight. Tribunals are of a civil nature. E.g. the Central Administrative Tribunal.
	Special	Special courts are courts created for specific kinds of cases. These could be civil or criminal in nature. E.g. special courts dealing with cheque bounce cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
	Regular	Regular courts are all other courts that are not Tribunals or Special courts. These could be civil or criminal in nature. E.g. District Court at Ernakulam.
Hierachy		The hierarchy of the court reflects the hierarchy of appellate jurisdiction of courts.
	Supreme Court	The Supreme Court is the apex court of India. There is one Supreme Court.
	High Court	The High Courts are the highest courts in each state in India. Some states share a High Court. E.g. Punjab and Haryana share a High Court in Chandigarh.
	District and Sessions Court	The District Courts are the highest courts in each district. The High Courts have appellate jurisdiction over District and Sessions courts.
	Tribunals	Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies where the executive exercises administrative oversight. An appeal from the Tribunals may lie either to the High Court or to the Supreme Court, in accordance with the provisions of the statute creating the Tribunal.

Taxonomy for Case Stage

The classification for case stages is aimed at giving the stakeholders, especially the parties, a clear idea as to the progress of the case. Generally, every case in a given category (civil, criminal-FIR, criminal-complaint) would pass through all classified stages, in a linear manner. In this sense, a case stage can be said to be a rite of passage that every case goes through. A stage is something that a case cannot generally proceed without.

Each stage is mutually exclusive of the other. At all times the case is progressing through the court system, the case should be mapped to one stage – at no point should it be unmapped, or mapped to more than one stage.

Stages are different from case “status” - pending, disposed, etc. Stages are also different from activity - appearance is a stage, issuance of summons is an activity performed at that stage. This activity of issuance of summons may also take place at another stage, e.g. issuance of summons to the witness at the stage of evidence.

Each stage is defined by an activity that initiates the case stage. This is to clearly delineate the beginning of the stage. A stage ends when another stage begins.

Connected cases, e.g. appeal, execution, etc., also indicate the progress of the case. However, these have not been included in case stages. The case progress in terms of these connected cases can be understood through a mapping of the main case and connected/ related cases (miscellaneous applications, appeals, execution petition, etc.) in the system.

What is a Case Stage?

A "case stage" refers to a specific phase or step within the progression of a legal case through the court system. It represents where the case stands in terms of its procedural status or development. The exact stages can vary depending on the legal system and the type of case.

Civil Cases

S.No		Case Stage	Start Activity
1	Pre-Trial	Filing	Filing of the first pleading by the petitioner, i.e. the plaint.
2		Admission	Transfer of the case from scrutiny (after clearance of defects) to the court.
3		Appearance	Order issuing notice to the respondent.
4		Written pleadings and submissions	Respondent appears in the court, in-person or through a pleader, synchronously or asynchronously.
5	Trial	Framing of issues	Order declaring the date for framing of issues
6		Evidence	Order directing the parties to furnish evidence including documental or oral evidence.
7		Arguments	Order directing parties to submit oral or written arguments.
8	Post-Trial	Judgement	Order specifying the judge reserving judgment/ date of pronouncing judgment.
9		Post-Judgement	Pronouncement of judgment.

Criminal-Complaint Cases

S.No		Case Stages	Start Activity
1	Pre-Trial	Filing	Filing of the complaint.
2		Cognizance	Transfer of the case from scrutiny (after clearance of defects) to the court.
3		Inquiry	Order directing inquiry or investigation under Section 202 of CrPC.
4		Appearance	Order directing appearance of the accused.
5	Trial	Framing of charges	Order fixing date for framing of charges.
6		Evidence	Same as for civil cases.
7		Arguments	Same as for civil cases.
8	Post-Trial	Judgement	Same as for civil cases.
9		Sentencing	Pronouncement of judgment on guilt.
10		Post-Judgement	Pronouncement of judgment on sentence.

Classification of Criminal FIR is in progress and will be updated shortly

Taxonomy for Case Final Outcomes

The classification for case outcomes is done to arrive at a common understanding of the various final outcomes of the case, and their meanings.

State	Definitions
	The various outcomes of a case as per the judgment in the case.
Withdrawn	Order accepting the withdrawal of the case by the petitioner.
Settled	Order acknowledging the settlement of the case by the parties.
Transferred	Order transfering the case to another court, by the same court, or acknowledging such transfer made by another court.
Dismissed	Order dismissing the petition as a whole.
Allowed	Order allowing the petition as a whole.
Partly allowed	Order partly allowing and partly dismissing the petition.
Convicted	Order convicting the accused of all charges.
Party convicted	Order convicting the accused of some of the charges.
Abated	Order declaring that the suit has been abated for reasons specified in law, e.g. where the defendant dies and the legal representatives of the deceased have not been brought on record in accordance with the law.