Background: The interest in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) tools by judicial operators is growing, and their access to generative AI tools has increased in recent years. More recently, judges, prosecutors and lawyers around the globe have started to use chatbots powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) to draft legal documents, legal briefings and elaborate arguments in court hearings. However, formal guidance on adequately using these tools for individuals or organizations in the justice sector is scarce. Only a few countries around the World have issued policies, rules or guidelines on how judicial operators could adopt and use these tools ethically and responsibly. These tools can help judges, prosecutors, lawyers, civil servants in legal administration, and researchers improve the quality of their work by facilitating the search for information, automating tasks, and supporting decision-making processes. Although AI tools can support the core objectives of the justice sector, the negligent use of AI systems by judicial operators may also undermine human rights, such as fair trial and due process, access to justice and effective remedy, privacy and data protection, equality before the law, and non-discrimination, as well as judicial values such as impartiality and accountability. Objective: The session will address SDG 16, which seeks to “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.” In particular, the project will address
SDG 16.3: Promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensuring equal access to justice for all
SDG 16.B: Promoting and enforcing non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development. The launch of the guidelines will inform judicial operators worldwide on the human rights concerns that they must keep in mind while using AI systems.
Session Overview: UNESCO will be launching its draft Guidelines for the Use of AI by Judicial Operators at the session. These guidelines have been developed based on a survey of over 500 judicial operators from 96 countries concerning their use of Generative AI. Experts will then gather in a roundtable format for a panel discussion. This session will discuss:
Challenges and opportunities for the use of AI in the Judiciary
Human rights implications of AI that the judiciary must be prepared to address.
Strategies, tools, and good practices with respect to judicial training related to AI.
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