Justice Trends 2: Automated Justice Get the Gist of the future for technology in justice

Summary Analysis

For the next 10 years, the pace of change for the economy and society will continue to be pushed by ever accelerating technological advances. Justice systems will need to keep pace or risk being less relevant to citizens.

In shaping these future changes, it will be key to take advantage of the benefits of technology while protecting society and the justice system from unintended consequences.

For the justice system, the knowledge of industry disruption will be only part of the issue. The more important discussions center around the need to determine the areas where technology can be used effectively, free from bias. More thought and research will need to be undertaken to determine whether AI and other digital technologies help eradicate human bias from the justice system, or if they will only make the issue worse.

Now that researchers know that prejudice can influence algorithms, researchers must work to improve the code to address or remove the bias.

To address some of these concerns, human lawyers or other justice system stakeholders may be required to act as auditors on the output of AI for many years to prevent potential injustices. These stakeholders will need to improve their skills and move rapidly to stay ahead. Policy makers will need to provide guidelines for how to audit such machines while maintaining security and upholding civil rights.

Digital and technological advances provide an opportunity to make the justice system more coordinated, efficient, and automated (e.g. more seamless flow of information from the police to lawyers and court to restorative justice and jails/prisons) but safeguards are required in these areas to ensure that the guiding principles of justice systems are respected.

The current landscape also provides unprecedented opportunity for courts to effect appropriate and thoughtful adaptation from more traditional approaches to modernized ones. These newer approaches include reducing the number of brick and mortar locations while increasing online services (e.g. Smart Courts) that can better serve citizens who have difficulty travelling. They might also offer extended hours service and may reduce the need for lawyers in some low risk situations.

Governments will need to improve their business model, and develop online platforms and automation services. They will also need to ensure that their employees’ technology competency is strong enough to survive and take advantage of the upcoming changes.