Digital Revolution: How the judiciary is adapting to the future!

Digital Revolution: How the judiciary is adapting to the future!

Digitalization is finding its way into all areas of our society and is requiring significant adjustments in various industries, especially in the legal sector. Dirk Hartung, an expert in digital transformation, emphasizes how important it is for people to keep up with this rapid development. The focus is on questions of integrating new technologies and adapting existing laws. Legal training must also adapt to this change and promote technical understanding in order to make access to the digital world easier, says Hartung, who spoke in the law-school.de writes.

The change is particularly manifested by generative artificial intelligence (AI), which has been a central topic of discussion since the beginning of 2023. In Germany there is a significant education deficit on technical topics, which often leads to skepticism and fear. Hartung points to the need to address concerns and promote a shared understanding and enthusiasm for digital technologies. Ministries have already initiated new formats such as discussions and workshops to counteract public skepticism and communicate the importance of these topics.

Current projects in the German justice system

Numerous projects to digitize the justice system have been initiated in recent years. The SMART/IMJ project has been being tested since 2019, particularly in Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate. The goal is the automated categorization and extraction of metadata from PDF documents in civil proceedings using machine learning. This technology is intended to relieve the burden on the service units and aims, among other things, at the development of analysis tools to optimize this implementation process, report colleagues from legal-tech.de.

Another project relates to the use of AI in commercial, corporate and registry law. The aim here is to create a digital assistant that will automatically create, execute and control commercial register processes. In addition, the Bavarian judiciary provides data from the Bavarian registry courts. This is part of a comprehensive plan that also includes criminal justice projects such as the identification of child and youth pornography, dark web monitoring and the early detection of phishing domains.

Future outlook and challenges

The increase in AI projects in the German judiciary is obvious, especially in routine tasks. Initiatives like FRAUKE and Codefy are examples of how new technologies can be implemented through tenders. In order to remain at the forefront of digital change, an overall strategy for AI in the justice system is planned to be presented in spring 2025, as well as the development of a common AI platform for the cross-border exchange of applications by 2026.

However, there are challenges, such as the difficulties in determining the progress of the various projects and the urgent need for scientific evaluation of these projects. Ultimately, a common AI strategy and platform could create more transparency and effective cooperation between the federal states, which is supported by the federal government's digitalization initiative.