The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, invites Member States, national human rights institutions, and other relevant State institutions, international and regional organizations, civil society, scholars, activists, and other interested individuals and organizations to provide written inputs for her next thematic report on artificial Intelligence and judicial systems. The report will be presented at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in October 2025.
Judicial systems across the world are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) for a variety of purposes and activities. And alongside formal, system-wide adoption, individual judges and lawyers make use of AI in their daily lives, including to carry out professional tasks.
As the United Nations Secretary-General has explained, digital technologies have the potential to contribute to improving access to justice; however, if not developed and used in a human rights-compliant manner, such technologies can exacerbate inequality and discrimination, disproportionately affect marginalized individuals and groups, and could potentially undermine rights associated with the administration of justice (A/79/296). Importantly, the use of technology by Member States must be consistent with international human rights standards. In practice, this means justice actors must be equipped with the knowledge, capacity and guidance needed to ensure that the deployment of AI is rights-respecting.
In her forthcoming report, the Special Rapporteur will address the promises and pitfalls of AI use by judicial systems, judges and the legal profession. She is keen to hear from stakeholders about any concerns they may have regarding this issue. The Special Rapporteur has observed from her preliminary analysis that a significant amount of valuable work has already been done in relation to AI use by lawyers; therefore, she proposes to focus in her report on the following two broad topics:
- The impact of AI on judicial decision making and judicial independence; and
- The role of AI in improving justice administration and advancing or undermining access to justice, including in its use by lawyers and prosecutors.Submissions will help inform the Special Rapporteur’s views and understanding of these, and other, issues. The report will include relevant and achievable recommendations for Member States and other stakeholders and will be made available on her website and other channels.
Key questions and types of input/comments sought
All submissions are welcome and the topics below are not exhaustive. However, the Special Rapporteur would be grateful for comments that address one or more of the following topics. She is particularly eager to receive submissions that take an intersectional, gender-sensitive, and decolonial approach.
In the State(s) or regions in which you work:
AI and judicial independence
- How is AI being used by judges (whether by individuals, specific types of judges, or judges in particular courts or regions)? How is data about the use of AI by judges being gathered and analyzed? Consider in particular the use of AI in the following judicial activities:a Legal research;b Case summarization and analysis;c Drafting opinions and judgments;d Informing decision-making; ande Rendering decisions.
- What kind of training on the use of AI available to judges? Who designs, organizes and funds that training?
Regulation and risk reduction
- What are some concerns or challenges that you encounter relating to AI use judicial systems and by justice operators? What are the key best practices for addressing these? Consider in particular:a Availability of resources, including digital and technical resources within courts;b How AI tools are created and integrated into the judiciary, including whether they are “made” in-house or “bought” from private companies;c Regulatory issues, such as rules defining legal advice supplied by technology companies or applications as the unauthorized practice of law;d Technical/service quality, including questions of bias;e Data ownership and privacy;f Judicial de-skilling; andg Potential threats to judicial independence.
- How does AI impact inequality between litigants, legal professionals, or Member States, either positively or negatively?
- What legal or regulatory frameworks in place to guide the use of AI in judicial systems and by justice operators? Who designed and issued these frameworks and what was the process by which they were prepared? Do they restrict the categories of cases in which justice operators can make use of AI?
AI and access to justice
- How, if at all, is AI being used to expand access to justice for self-represented litigants? Consider in particular the use of AI in:a Legal advice chatbots;b AI-powered legal representation; andc AI-powered online dispute resolution.
- How, if at all, is AI being used to improve justice administration and the operation of justice systems? Consider in particular the use of AI in:a Court filing;b Case triaging and case management;c Live transcription;d Translation; ande Any other relevant uses.
How inputs will be used?
Please send your submission via email to hrc-sr-independencejl@un.org by 2 May 2025 at the latest, with the subject: Submission to report on Artificial Intelligence. Only submissions sent to this email and received by the deadline will be considered and made public on the mandate’s webpage.
Respondents are requested to limit their contributions, in English, French, or Spanish, to a maximum of 2,500 words. Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies, and other background materials may be linked in the body of the submission or annexed to the submission.
The Special Rapporteur greatly appreciates the effort that goes into making such contributions and looks forward to reading all submissions.
Please feel free to circulate this call for inputs widely in your networks.
Next Steps
Input/comments may be sent by e-mail. They must be received by 2 May 2025 .
Email address: hrc-sr-independencejl@un.org
Email subject line: Submission to report on Artificial Intelligence
Word/Page limit:
2500 words
Accepted file formats:
Word, PDF
Accepted Languages:
English, French, Spanish