Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Tuesday called for a structured judicial partnership with Germany, anchored in responsible use of technology and cross-border mediation, while asserting that artificial intelligence cannot substitute human judgment.
The Chief Justice is on a four-day official tour of Germany and the United Kingdom, and visited the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Tuesday.
Speaking at a bilateral meeting with Presiding Judge Dr Ulrich Herrmann at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, the CJI said he approached the dialogue as a “practical and forward-looking dialogue” centered on three themes—harnessing AI in justice administration, strengthening cross-border mediation, and deepening institutional cooperation through a Memorandum of Understanding.
Congratulating the German court on establishing its Seventh Criminal Senate in Leipzig from July 1, 2026, the CJI noted that India and Germany, despite different traditions, common-law integrated hierarchy versus civil-law separate federal jurisdiction, face the common pressures of appellate workload, consistency of case law and timely disposal.
On technology, the CJI laid out a clear red line: “Artificial intelligence may augment judicial reasoning, but it cannot substitute the judicial conscience.”
He said India’s draft AI regulations permit administrative uses like scheduling, transcription and translation, while barring AI from assessing witness credibility, flight risk, recidivism or bail eligibility.
Flagging India’s eCourts Mission Mode Project Phase-III, with an outlay of Rs 7,210 crore, and tools like SUPACE, SUVAS for translation into 16 languages and SuSahay for citizen queries, he stressed: “Technology is an instrument that helps Courts fulfil their constitutional responsibility; it is not an end in itself.”
Drawing a parallel with Germany’s electronic case files, E-Justice Council and proposed Federal Justice Cloud, the CJI added, “Both our judiciaries agree that judicial decisions must remain with judges and legally authorised judicial officers, whatever the degree of digital transformation.”
On mediation, the CJI said, “Promoting mediation as an ‘other mode of dispute resolution’ has always been at the top of my list of priorities as the Chief Justice of India, right from day one.”
Describing mediation as a psychological process, he noted that voluntary compliance with mediated settlements can run as high as 90 per cent. He highlighted the Mediation Act, 2023 and Lok Adalats, Digital Lok Adalats and the Supreme Court’s Samadhan Samaroh as widening access, and pitched India-Germany cooperation on cross-border commercial mediation under Germany’s Mediationsgesetz 2012 and EU directives.
Welcoming the concept note from the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg for reciprocal study visits and workshops, the CJI proposed identifying institutional points of contact, registry-level cooperation on e-filing, anonymisation and cybersecurity, and joint programmes between the National Judicial Academy and German institutions.
Concluding, the CJI said, “Technology and administrative reform can support this responsibility, but neither can replace careful adjudication, human judgment and fidelity to law.”
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