ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

The paper focuses on the right to access to justice in the context of ongoing digitalisation. Access to justice enables individuals to utilise existing legal mechanisms to protect their rights, adhering to substantial standards of justice. Access to justice is essential for the rule of law and human rights. In the paper’s first section, we analyse access to justice from a human rights perspective. Access to justice encompasses several core human rights, such as the right to a fair trial, and the right to an effective remedy. We then discuss the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in court and how it influences access to justice. We aim to determine whether digitisation and AI tools enhance access to justice and lead to more efficient legal processes. Can the online landscape and the implementation of AI address the shortcomings associated with accessing justice in traditional offline settings? Our initial hypothesis is that modern AI-based tools can facilitate the exercise of the right to access to justice. However, we also recognise that these tools face numerous challenges not typically encountered in the offline environement, which must be addressed to ensure proper access to justice. The author defines the normative and comparative methods as the framework for analysis.