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11 IJCA 1 (2020)
Courts and Artificial Intelligence

handle is hein.journals/ijca11 and id is 172 raw text is: A. D. (Dory) Reiling, 'Courts and Artificial Intelligence' International Journal (2020) 11(2) International Journal for Court or Court Administration Administration 8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36745/ijca.343 PROFESSIONAL ARTICLE Courts and Artificial Intelligence A. D. (Dory) Reiling* This article explores the use of artificial intelligence (Al) in courts of law. Al raises any number of questions for courts and judges. Importantly, what can Al do for the administration of justice, and what does that require? Complexity reduction is at the heart of court processes, irrespective of subject matter. Not all court work is complex custom work and routine processes have different requirements from complex customised work of the courts. It follows, that forms of information technology, including artificial intelligence, are also not the same for all cases. Which form of Al has already proven itself for these different processes? The work of courts and judges is governed by the standards of proper procedure, including Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, so what does this mean for those working with Al? The Council of Europe has developed the Ethical Principles for the use of Al in the administration of justice. Can legal information be made more usable for Al? Keywords: courts; artificial intelligence; Al; justice; information technology 1. Introduction Machines are taking over the work of people everywhere. In the not too distant past, spell- checking and search engines were regarded by many as 'intelligent' information technology. Today, facial recognition routinely checks travelers at our airports. Google Maps gives me unsolicited advice about my destination: the restaurant may be closed. My tablet and my mobile phone answer my spoken questions with friendly spoken replies. The newspapers talk about 'robot' justice. There are claims that algorithms can accurately predict court decisions, and that we won't need human judges anymore. We enjoy talking about things that don't exist yet, and fantasize about how they will make our lives easier. But what do we already know, actually, about the use of artificial intelligence? This article explores the potential and risks of artificial intelligence in the courts based on the current state of knowledge. The main questions of this article are: (1) how can artificial intelligence be useful for courts and judges, and (2) what is needed to make artificial intelligence useful? Court cases don't always require a complex, custom-made approach to decision-making and many cases can be processed automatically, at least in part. That is why the application of information technol- ogy, including artificial intelligence, is not the same for all case types. Which form of artifi- cial intelligence has already proven itself for these different processes? How can courts and * Hon. Dr. Dory Reiling LLM is a retired judge and an international court and IT expert, NL. Email: doryreiling@ gmail.com