Legal Aid Clinics as Catalysts of Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Rural India – Exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence in improving Access to Justice

To 'leave no one behind' and to 'reach the furthest behind first' are the principles that lie at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Goals.Goal sixteen aims at building effective and accountable institutions and providing access to justice for all.The Indian legal system has tiers for redressing legal issues, including the Gram Nyayalay and Lok Adalat, which are some of the efforts for dispute resolution at the rural level.However, the vulnerable remain deprived of justice owing to reasons like lack of awareness, administrative inefficiencies, reliance on and exploitation by rural intermediaries, and so on.The Alternative Dispute Resolution landscape is thriving in India due to its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and community-centric orientation, offering significant potential for addressing routine civil and economic disputes in rural India.The legal aid clinics established by law schools have proved to be an impactful link with the justice system.And the same time, the recent technological developments in Artificial Intelligence present opportunities to strengthen the justice system.This paper explores these intersections, thereby assessing the role of Artificial Intelligence as an enabling tool for data-driven decision-making, pattern analysis, and administrative assistance.The paper argues that with integration within the constitutional framework, Artificial Intelligence can augment a legally viable dispute resolution mechanism and a people-centred strategy for the administration of justice.