Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has plans to increase the use of artificial intelligence in the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

AI has the potential to enable service improvements across HMCTS, and we are exploring how it can be applied responsibly to our operations and services, including to support document processing, transcription, summarisation and translation. The use of AI in the courts and tribunals will be focused on accelerating and assisting people’s work, not automating decisions.

All use of artificial intelligence in the Ministry of Justice is aligned with the AI Playbook for the UK Government and the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard. The Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals issued AI Guidance for the judiciary in December 2023.