AI in the Courts: Ground-Breaking Standards from the Council of Europe and Perspectives From the Member States

Event Details

While AI can significantly enhance court efficiency, its deployment must align with legal, ethical, and human rights standards. The pace of international standard-setting has varied. At the forefront of this field is the Council of Europe, the group of 46 states that are parties to the Convention on Human Rights and many additional treaties and norms. To discuss the growing body of Council of Europe standards, we are joined by a highly experienced panel, several of whom have served on the Council of Europe's specialised body, the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ).

The Council of Europe's ground-breaking work on AI in courts began with the CEPEJ European Ethical Charter on the use of AI in judicial systems and their environment  (the first standard of its kind, adopted in 2018). It now includes the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law  (2024), the first fully binding international treaty in this field. Also of relevance are the recent CEPEJ "1st Report on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the judicial system based on the information contained in the CEPEJ's Resource Centre on Cyberjustice and AI"  and the report "How can Artificial Intelligence be put at the service of the judiciary? Reflections of the CEPEJ's Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board".

Ukraine is central to our event as we have two of its CEPEJ experts present and will be hearing about how they have faced the challenges of technological innovation in Ukrainian courts during wartime, and how they have shared their insights and helped to shape some of these Council of Europe standards on AI.

This event is organised as a joint initiative of our projects on 'The Dynamics of the Judiciary in Ukraine in the Context of the Rule of Law and the EU Accession Aspirations' and the Maurice Wohl Fellowship in European Law programme,  which has organised previous events on AI regulation in Europe, including a panel on 'The Rule of Law in the Technological Age' (recording and speaker materials available here).

Event convened by Professor Tetyana Antsupova, British Academy Global Professor leading the project on the Ukrainian judiciary, Dr Julinda Beqiraj, Maurice Wohl Senior Fellow in European Law and Dr Jan van Zyl Smit, Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.

Event Report

Download an outline of the discussion  

Opening Remarks

Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Former President of the UK Supreme Court, President of the BIICL.

Chair

Professor Tetyana Antsupova, BIICL Senior Fellow and British Academy Global Professor

Speakers:

• Dr. Sergii Koziakov, BIICL Research Leader and former member of CEPEJ in respect of Ukraine
• Professor Marek Świerczyński, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, member of the CEPEJ Advisory Board on Artificial Intelligence
• Dr. Michael Veale, Associate Professor and Vice-Dean (Education Innovation) in the Faculty of Laws, University College London, and member of the Technology Advisory Panel  (TAP) of the UK Information Commissioner's Office
• Judge Oleksandra Yanovska, Supreme Court of Ukraine, member of CEPEJ in respect of Ukraine
    

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