Europe's plans for the application of AI by the judiciary

CEPEJ (European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice) is one of the main sources for those who like comparative law. In its last plenary session (12/08/2021), a Four-Year Action Plan was approved, with the objective of adopting new technologies for the improvement of Justice.

The plan intends to reconcile, with the help of technology, the effectiveness of the provision with the quality of jurisdictional public services. The axes that support this strategy are transparency, collaboration, valuing people, accessibility, rationality, responsibility and responsiveness.

At the same time, on the same occasion, CEPEJ revised its planning for the promotion of the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) by the Judiciary. The currently revised work began in 2018, when five key points for adopting AI solutions were established : respect for fundamental rights; non-discrimination; data quality and security; transparency, impartiality and fairness; as well as the independence of the user.

From the beginning, CEPEJ has shown that it is aware that there is no magic solution to the matter, especially considering its pioneering spirit in trying to establish conditions for AI to advance while respecting human rights. Two years later, the same initial working group aimed to assess the feasibility of this mission, having presented its report in 2020.

In mid-2021, the first version of the planning for certification of AI solutions was presented. But, taking into account the discussions that had taken place and the difficulty in creating a solution that respected the vision of several countries, the conclusion of the work was postponed to the end-of-year plenary meeting.

The objective of this initiative (moved by the Council of Europe), despite its initial stage, is to regulate high-risk AI solutions. As there are many countries involved, it is natural that Europe does not move so quickly on this point. As an example, Brazil already has a regulation of the matter, including guidelines set by the CNJ. On this point we can say that we are more advanced than Europe.