Quality of reasoning in automated judicial decisions (research initiation)

Could judges be replaced by machines? This question seemed one of science fiction until recently, but today we know that it is technically possible to create a computer programme that helps judicial decision-making or may even make a judicial decision itself. The question is not anymore whether machines (or, put more properly, computer programmes) could assist or act as judges, but rather whether their contribution would put at risk the quality of the outcome. In other words, we must understand which the risks for the quality of judicial decisions are if they are taken by automated systems rather than by human judges. Could computer programmes make sound and fair decisions?

The research initiation aims to continue to bring together scholars from different disciplines to discuss the problem of quality of reasoning in automated judicial decisions. Such a problem calls for an interdisciplinary debate that involves IT specialists working with the automation of legal decisions, scholars of humanities and social sciences studying human-machine collaboration, and legal scholars interested in comparing legal cultures and studying judicial reasoning. An exchange of ideas between these fields of research will make it possible to design a research project investigating how quality of judicial reasoning in automated decisions may be ensured in a specifically Nordic context.

The research initiation takes the form of an international conference held at Örebro University in February 2022 and a follow-up workshop which is scheduled for 17-18 October 2022.