The Algorithmic (Companion to) Counsel. A Computational Approach to Strengthen the Effectiveness of Defence Rights in Criminal Proceedings

The research carried out by the CrossJustice project leads to a number of conclusions. Among them, a first one, already known, is that the EU legal sources on defendants’ rights are developing significant effects on the level of protection of the rights involved, both at national level and within EU law itself. The second result is that the use of a system of AI for achieving a more effective knowledge of this legal field appears to be significant. It provides an integrated view of the problems, meaning an understanding of the multilevel nature of legal sources and the role played by both judicial decisions and theories developed by scholars. An AI system also makes it easy to identify the level of compliance of a national system with European standards. It also makes it possible to promote faster and more effectively issues related to the identification and transposition of common constitutional traditions, which is in turn a key area for the success of the whole Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The third result is that such an AI system helps interpreters to orientate in specific individual cases with a supranational and multilevel dimension, offering first rudimentary solutions (which will then have to be properly developed by practitioners). This implies that the use of AI has a practical problem-solving function, although it leaves the responsibility (and the resolution of the legal issue in its entirety) to the practitioners.