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Lawtech: fit for the future?

14 July 2023 / Dr Charanjit Singh
Issue: 8033 / Categories: Features , Profession , Cyber , Technology , Legal services , Criminal
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Could advances in lawtech provide a much-needed silver bullet for the UK’s ailing criminal justice system? Dr Charanjit Singh weighs up the opportunities & challenges
  • Examines advents in artificial intelligence (AI) and lawtech that could provide solutions for the heavily overburdened criminal justice system.
  • Explores the implications including issues of discrimination and bias, safeguarding and mitigation, and legislative compliance.
  • Notes the current position in relation to AI in criminal and civil justice in the UK.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on the worlds of banking, health and charitable fundraising. AI systems have the ability to independently perform and outthink their human counterparts; they develop ‘intelligence’ (simulating human intelligence) through experiences and by processing deep layers of information, and they are able to learn, resulting in astounding improvements in the completion of tasks that are complex, technical, and time-consuming. AI can deal with granular detail, identifying people, objects, voices, patterns, and screening for problems.

Lawtech is defined in this article as ‘the

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NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
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