Technology

Judges are “embedded” in all the projects that make up the £1bn court modernisation programme and whether hearings are held by video or person will always be a matter of judicial discretion.

Some lawyers have been suffering from “GDPR fever” over the past year and given bad advice based on limited knowledge or too cautious an approach, a leading data protection law specialist has warned.

Lawyers are wrong to think that there are tasks beyond technology that only they can carry out, Professor Richard Susskind has warned. He urged lawyers to help build the machines, not compete with them.

Computers using artificial intelligence could be given separate legal personalities enabling them to own property as the law adapts to technology, a Supreme Court justice has suggested.

AI should be developed in conjunction with a wide range of non-technical specialists, while an ‘ethical black box’ showing how a system made particular decisions may also be needed.

The Law Commission has “paused” its project on smart contracts to avoid potential duplication with work being undertaken by the government-backed lawtech delivery panel.

Cheshire-based Bott & Co has unveiled a knowledge transfer partnership with the University of Manchester with the aim of incorporating artificial intelligence technology into the firm.

A high-powered body of experts has called for more detailed evaluations of the government’s ambitious court modernisation programme, and complained about the lack of data on its impact.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service has put back completion of the court modernisation programme by a year to 2023, it announced yesterday. It was originally planned to finish in 2020.

The Lord Chief Justice has set up an advisory group to provide senior judges with guidance on artificial intelligence, chaired by Professor Richard Susskind and including judges, academics and practitioners.