Manupatra Legal Database and Current Era of an Artificial Intelligence

AI is being incorporated into legal research databases which will change how legal information is accessed, organised and interpreted significantly.  Manupatra (one of the largest legal research databases in India) lies at an important intersection of traditional forms of accessing legal information and the new generation of advanced AI-enabled legal research tools. This study has been developed in response to the significant increase in the number of judgements, statute material and regulations in India which has made traditional keyword-based systems of legal research increasingly ineffective.  This study will evaluate how AI-enabled features within legal databases are changing legal research practices and may raise important ethical and governance issues as well.

This study will be based on a doctrinal and analytical research methodology based purely on secondary data sources which include scholarly literature about legal technology, artificial intelligence and digital legal research systems. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the progression of legal research from traditional methods to electronic formats and finally to AI-assisted legal research tools such as Manupatra. Furthermore, the article critically appraises the ethical issues associated with using AI for legal research, including algorithmic bias, transparency and data concentration to name just a few. While AI improves the efficiency, contextual understanding and depth of legal research it will potentially standardise legal thinking / reasoning and exacerbate existing inequalities in society if no regulation is implemented.

The author highlights some of the ways that Manupatra’s AI enhanced legal research improves precision and connectivity by using AI, but also recognises that better standards for transparency, ethics and inclusive access are needed to optimise its use in legal research. The author makes a recommendation that AI should only be an assisting tool in legal research not the key determinant in legal reasoning. Lastly, the author states that effective regulation of AI legal databases through governance, oversight and capacity building will assist in ensuring AI legal databases move towards improving fairness, pluralism and access to justice in India.