News
Strengthening capacities of judicial operators in Africa
From 10 to 12 August 2022, UNESCO and the Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) jointly conducted a 3-day inter-regional training programme on AI and the Rule of Law for judicial operators based in Africa. More than 60 participants from 18 African countries registered for the training.
The training aimed to stimulate a participative dialogue between judicial operators from Africa on the adoption and responsible use of AI in the judicial system. The goal of the programme was to enhance the participants’ technical and legal understanding of digital transformation in the judiciary, its opportunities and challenges, and the implications of AI for the Rule of Law.
Judicial actors play an important role in protecting human rights and defending democracy. As other uses of AI proliferate, judges and prosecutors have one of the most important roles in protecting human rights and the rule of law.
The predictive use of AI could be a substantial support to the judicial system with algorithmic risk assessments, facial recognition, predictive policing, license plate reading, case management, digital evidence, predictive risk assessment and assistance in judicial decision making.
Applying the lessons through real-time problem solving
At the end of the training, the participants applied the knowledge by arguing on different sides of complex legal challenges related to AI facing judiciaries in different contexts.
Participants underlined that they were better equipped to appraise the adoption of AI legal technology. They valued UNESCO’s role as a neutral platform for experience-sharing across jurisdictions on the trends and the future challenges in development and application of AI tools in the administration of justice.
This unique experience mobilised a group of experts like no other. It was an opportunity to discover the issues and challenges raised by AI in African judicial systems, as well as the problems affecting the rule of law that are emerging.
UNESCO’s Judges Initiative
UNESCO’s Judges Initiative has trained over 24,000 judicial operators globally from more than 150 countries. The initiative is built upon memorandum of understandings (MoU) with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Economic Community of West African States, among others.
In 2020, UNESCO launched the development of its programme on AI and the Rule of Law for Judicial Operators. This programme was developed based on the findings of the survey of over 1200 judicial operators in 100 countries. In 2022, UNESCO launched an online training on AI and the Rule of Law, bringing together 20 expert speakers from all over the world to share their knowledge with over 4,500 registered participants.
