Artificial Intelligence and Technology for Improving the Efficiency of The Judiciary in Nigeria (original) (raw)
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The Future of Artificial Intelligence and The Administration of Law and Justice in Nigeria
The Future of Artificial Intelligence and The Administration of Law and Justice in Nigeria, 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming various sectors, and the legal profession in Nigeria is no exception. Given Nigeria's complex legal framework and growing population, integrating AI into the administration of law and justice promises significant improvements in efficiency, access, and effectiveness. This essay explores the future of AI within Nigeria's legal system. It begins by examining the current state and challenges of the Nigerian legal system. Subsequently, it discusses the potential benefits AI can offer to enhance legal processes and the obstacles that must be overcome to achieve this potential. Finally, the essay provides insights into the prospective role of AI in shaping the administration of law and justice in Nigeria.
Artificial Intelligence & Law: A Nigerian Perspective
This book has sought to bring together two seemingly unrelated topics; Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Nigerian Legal System. The aim was to explore ways they can affect each other, and how the disruption of AI can be managed with the right legal framework. To do this, it was necessary to commence this study by providing foundation knowledge about AI, its features, manifestations, and possible areas where it poses a challenge to the law. This was necessary because the topic of AI is not a popular topic of discussion, especially among African legal scholars. This was followed by a study of review of related literature on the subject matter of this book. It was found that in the few cases where legal scholars, not just in Africa, but globally, discuss AI, their focus is on how it will affect the legal profession, as opposed to the general society or the system of laws for their countries. By focusing on the Nigerian Legal System, this long essay earned its mark of distinction from the previous body of literature. Considering the wide scope of the topic, it was necessary to focus on some specific aspects of the legal system. The chosen areas were the adjudicative process, the laws of tortious negligence and strict liability, then a general regulatory framework for AI in Nigeria. This book proposed the development of an indigenous AI system merged with ADR mechanisms that would reduce the incidence of court congestion alongside a complete legal framework of how it would operate. To give this context, the High Court Laws of Lagos State were utilised. This book also considered the challenges that AI might pose to the tort of negligence in Nigeria in its current form, and concluded that for all purposes, the liability for any harm caused by AI should lie with humans, not the tool, as they do not possess, and are not capable of legal personality, the way humans are. An ethical and regulatory framework was also developed to guide the application, development, and use of AI in Nigeria.
International Journal for Court Administration
The 2015 Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) has set Nigeria on the path of adopting a more technology-driven criminal justice administration. Prior to its enactment after several years of consideration, there had been only episodic use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities in criminal proceedings. This paper examines Nigeria's Criminal Justice Administration (CJA) in light of the ACJA's innovative provisions with a view to furthering the application of ICT facilities. It is hoped that ICT might be integrated throughout the CJA as it currently operates in Nigeria so as to promote the effective and efficient automated administration of criminal justice. In the new era of social distancing given the COVID-19 pandemic, such reform is submitted to be imperative.
Deleted Journal, 2023
The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution made it essential to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into a number of areas, including the domain of legal education. This chapter offers a thorough analysis of the potential and difficulties linked to the incorporation of artificial intelligence into Nigeria's legal education system. Using qualitative techniques, the study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) might improve the teaching methods and professional skills of law students in order to prepare them for a future where technology plays a significant role. The paper highlights the disparity between existing curricular frameworks and the changing requirements of legal practice in a global context affected by artificial intelligence. Based on the combination of legal teaching methods and technological progress, the paper recommends a systematic approach to improving the curriculum, developing faculty, and enhancing infrastructure in order to promote AI literacy in legal education. The scope of the study, although centred on Nigeria, provides insights that can be applied globally. However, it recognises the constraints imposed by limited infrastructure and resource availability. The study's
S. B. L. R, 2022
The constant increase in the number of pending cases in courts has been a cause of concern for the legislative, executive and the judicial wings of the country and to overcome this problem, various steps are being taken like pressing for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms and scrapping of redundant laws but applying the new found field of Artificial Intelligence to cope up with this conundrum is an area that is still unexplored. Pakistan, is a country with growing up economy with a population of more than 221.0 millions, faces the problem of shortage of resources in almost every sector and Pakistani judiciary is no different. With the problem of shortage of judges and ever increasing rate of institution of cases, the net result is that a civil or a criminal trial takes years to get decided as compared to time taken by developed countries where trial is a matter of a few days. The net result, then, is delayed and ineffective justice delivery which is not very useful for any society. It is, therefore, necessary to think of out of the box solutions, in addition to the conventional ones, to restore the effectiveness and efficiency of the justice delivery system and make the same sustainable. One such solution is putting Artificial Intelligence to use in disposing judicial matters. Since courts in Pakistan are already undergoing a transformational change by going digital, the emerging domain of science called ‘Artificial Intelligence’ or ‘AI’ may help in surprising ways to ensure sustainable justice delivery and reduce the backlog of pending cases. Judiciary in some parts of developed countries like U.S.A, China and Canada has already deployed AI systems to assist the judges on taking a call on matters like granting of bail and release of offenders on parole. Likewise, in Pakistan too, court tasks can be identified which can be expedited through the use of intelligent machines. These tasks may range from routine matters such as service of processes to complex ones like evaluation of evidence. This will not only save judicial time of the courts leading to better utilization of public money but may also help in reducing the impact personal biases of the judge in decision making.
Perspektif hukum, 2024
The development of Artificial Intelligence in the current digital era across every sector of society has become a topic of discussion among legal experts for its potential application within the realm of justice systems. Consistency and time efficiency have become key considerations for implementation within the judicial system. Pre-trial proceedings in Indonesia are often seen as a secondary trial process, leading to inconsistencies in time, understanding of legislation, and document management, resulting in disadvantageous situations for the suspects. The integration of Artificial Intelligence in legal proceedings can enhance efficiency, accuracy, and ensure access to justice for suspects within the legal process. In the context of pre-trial proceedings, AI can be utilized to aid in data processing and analysis, decision-making, and monitoring compliance with principles of procedural justice. The research problem in this study revolves around two main questions: First, how does the legitimacy and legal certainty of utilizing electronic media within the Indonesian judicial system stand? Second, how can procedural justice and access to justice be implemented through the utilization of electronic media, particularly artificial intelligence, in pre-trial proceedings? This research is a doctrinal or normative study, relying on secondary data sources consisting of primary legal materials and qualitative data.
Information Technology and Justice Delivery in Nigeria
one of the greatest authors on the application of technology to modernization of Courts in his recent book Online Courts and the Future of Justice 2 said "…in truth despite all manner of reform initiatives around the world, todays' court systems, along with our legal professions and our law schools-remain fundamentally 19 th and 20 th century institutions. They are out of place and inadequate in the 21 st century. It is time for radical change". He goes on to say about the English Judicial system "…. Overwhelmed by paper and routine administration, the operations of the court system are increasingly out of place in a digital society in which so much other daily activity is augmented by the internet and advanced technologies. Conceived in the dark ages and reformed radically in the nineteenth century, our court system seems otherworldly for the generation of people coming to adulthood, who socialize and work online, and for whom the expensive, slow, incomprehensible, quite combative techniques seem outmoded…" I couldn't agree more with this statement by the learned author and submit that it applies to Nigerian justice delivery system too. It has also been suggested that the cost of upgrading to a high technology Court has, in the past, often been very prohibitive. However, as digital technology develops and the costs invariably continue to fall, it is increasingly seen as everyday technology. 3
Koichi Miki (ed.) "Technology, the Global Economy and Other New Challenges for Civil Justice", Intersentia , 2021
In 2002 Ortells Ramos argued that the use of new technologies in judicial proceedings could be seen in three different ways. Firstly, new technologies could be seen as an auxiliary means for the development of certain procedural acts (for example, hearings’ videotaping.) Secondly, they can be a means to facilitate new ways in the performance of procedural acts (electronic notifications, electronic filing, videoconferences, etc.) Thirdly, they can lead to a real pure digital or online process. The decision over the scope and depth with which new technologies are used to face disputes resolutions depends, firstly and naturally, on a public policy choice. For many years, even recognizing their benefits in the Law field, the use of new technologies has been restricted in its implementation to the little and gradual technological development (with the impact it had on the costs of its acquisition, maintenance and update), and also to the limited capacity of online mechanisms for communicating information. These constrains do not exist nowadays. However, we witness a turning point in historical terms where, beyond public policy decisions, the cultural factor will also play a determining role when it comes to its implementation success. I am referring to the cultural factor. In this sense, for example in Latin America, one of the findings made by the Justice Studies Center of the Americas through its works in the region is that “even though a decision process and a deep intense regulatory change have taken place, rule implementation processes, cultural changes or actors’ practice and knowledge, citizenship participation and trust in these have been rather weak and little planned”. Piché also makes reference to this matter in her analysis of Canada’s situation, highlighting that for a better implementation of new technologies in the field of procedural law “it is necessary that judges’ and lawyers’ attitudes evolve and that such actors decide to trust in technology so that they can see it as a vehicle for change, since, together with it, it would be possible to move towards greater efficiency and a fairer dispute resolution, both inside and out-side courts”. I share her opinion in that “the main key” to change our justice administration systems relies on a greater use of new technologies in courts and in the pro-vision of other judicial services. Accordingly, Piché holds that technology is use-ful to “challenge and transform the provision of legal services, as well as producing greater efficiency in the management of disputes resolution systems”. All this would result, besides in the strengthening of the access to justice human right. It is indisputable that the use of new technologies in general, and specially of artificial intelligence, is a tool of absolute transcendence for the improvement of case management in any procedural system around the world. This would allow for great savings in human and material resources, as well as for progress in the making of judgements, which could be given in reasonable deadlines. What is apparently not very clear is to what extent we are willing to hand over the decision-making power to computer systems. This does not mean, by no means, that new technologies, especially artificial intelligence, are not relevant instruments for making decisions. The experiences of the Constitutional Courts of Colombia and the Federal High Court of Brazil, to which we have made reference to in this work, show, to some extent, evidence of that. One of the challenges is, apparently, to find the way of developing judicial branches that use new technologies and exploit all their potential, but that do not separate the jurisdiction, the act of doing justice (or least trying to do so) from their social, historical and anthropological essence,