Can judges seek advice from Artificial Intelligence (AI) while making certain judgments? Can they use various AI tools to support their work for example in regards to voice transcription? These were some of the questions that legal experts talked about in Kigali this week during an annual gathering of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), which brought together about 250 participants from the region and beyond. ALSO READ: Chief Justice calls for ‘ethical adoption’ of AI in judiciary Currently, AI has already been used in the judicial system in various countries. Among other examples, in 2023, the Punjab Haryana high court in India, used Chat GPT technology to decide on the bail plea of an accused person. In Africa, last year, Morocco introduced AI in courts, deploying a program that transcribes the judges' verdicts so that they don’t have to write them manually. Speaking during the EACJ conference, Eric Shirimpumu, a Rwandan professional mediator and international criminal and human rights lawyer, admitted that AI is changing legal practice worldwide. He pointed out though that it involves challenges and opportunities. Questions surrounding ethical and regulatory factors, technicalities like AI bias, data privacy, accountability, are some of those that he mentioned as possible challenges. “For example, if you are doing research on law cases, and give an order to AI to look for a similar case, and then, it brings you information. Who is the owner of that information?” he asked. ALSO READ: East African court to hear about 20 cases in Kigali this month He called for more education regarding the use of AI, as well as education and development of regulatory tools that guide professionals on the use of AI. Referring to a saying that “it is not AI that is going to replace the lawyers; instead, it is lawyers who use AI who are going to replace those who don't use AI,” he pointed at the importance of AI and the role it can play in making work easier. His fellow panellist, Florence Ogonjo, a Tech Policy Researcher at the High Court of Kenya, asked even harder questions, as she gave examples of countries where AI has been used in some judicial work, including the Indian high court case. “When you decide to leverage Chat GPT for judgment, for example, who bears the responsibility of the outcome? Is it your outcome as a judge or does it become Chat GPT or the AI system?” she asked. “Are we having now AI becoming the judges? Do we get rid of the judges as they are? Or should there be a balance where once again, AI is used as a tool to help?” she added. For Aisha Naluzze, a Ugandan High Court judge, for proper use of AI in the justice sector, policies for mitigating challenges related to transparency and fairness should be in place, in addition to subjecting judicial officers to continuous training in the AI tools. ALSO READ: Tech crime: Is Rwanda’s judicial system prepared? “A lot of capacity building programs need to be put in place to help the judicial officers know the applicability and the use of the AI tools,” she noted. On Tuesday, February 18, Rwanda’s Chief Justice, Domitilla Mukantaganzwa, called for ethical adoption of AI in the justice system, suggesting that it can enhance fairness, protect rights, and improve access to justice, fostering equitable regional development. “As we move forward, I propose that we focus on key areas, adopting the ethical integration of Artificial Intelligence to promote fairness, protect rights, improve access to justice for equitable regional development, and cultivate critical thinking about AI and ensure its alignment with justice and fairness,” she said.
