Rotterdam Court tests artificial intelligence as writing aid in criminal verdicts
The Rotterdam District Court has conducted a trial using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist in drafting the sentencing motivation of a criminal case. The AI was utilized solely as a tool to draft this section, which explains the reasoning behind the court's punishment decision. The AI did not participate in the decision-making process itself, according to the judiciary body, de Rechtspraak.
In this experiment, judges and court clerks used AI to generate an initial draft of the sentencing motivation. This portion of the verdict provides an explanation for why a specific punishment was chosen for the defendant. It plays a critical role in clarifying the court’s decision for the defendant, the public prosecutor, the victim, and society as a whole.
After the trial’s verdict, all parties involved were promptly notified about the use of AI in the drafting process. The court then issued a public statement regarding the experiment.
AI-generated suggestions for the sentencing motivation were based on general case details and were carefully reviewed by the judges and the court clerk. The judges followed standard procedures, with the clerk preparing a draft that was then adjusted collectively by the judges to finalize the sentencing motivation. It is important to note that AI had no role in making decisions, preparing judgments, or weighing considerations in the case.
The judges and court clerk reported positive results from their collaboration with AI. The tool helped speed up the drafting process and provided a more structured and organized approach to the sentencing motivation.
Despite the positive outcomes, the judges and court clerk expressed concerns about the future use of public AI tools in the judiciary. They noted that the limited input of information into public AI systems restricts their effectiveness. There is also the risk of disclosing too much case information to a public AI network too early, which could lead to potential ethical and legal complications.
To address these challenges, the judges and court clerk suggested that an internal, secure AI system, specifically designed for judicial use, would be far more effective. Such a system would only use confidential data, ensuring that more relevant and specific case information could be inputted.
One idea proposed by the court is to collect all publicly available criminal verdicts from the judiciary’s website, rechtspraak.nl, and integrate them into a secure AI database. This would allow judges to input more detailed case information, enabling the AI to generate more accurate and useful draft sentencing motivations.
