AI: Campaigners welcome judge’s approach
A family court has used AI to create a simple version of its judgment so that two parents with severe learning difficulties could understand the legal process.
Campaigners have welcomed the approach taken by Her Honour Judge Hesford, thought to be the first of its kind.
After a fact-finding hearing at the Family Court in Chester and Crewe, HHJ Hesford issued a traditional full judgment but annexed two additional judgments using the Judicial Copilot AI app, giving prompts to the AI to simplify the language and the structure of her decision.
The first was a simplified summary and the second in bullet-point format.
The judge explained: “They were for the benefit of the parents who both have learning and cognitive difficulties and for use by the intermediaries in discussions.
“All advocates agreed that they were immensely useful and they have been attached specifically to show how useful AI can be when carefully used in such situations.”
The case involved a married couple, who both have extremely low cognitive abilities, who were suspected of causing serious head injuries to their young daughter, known only as ‘B’.
The daughter – who was eight months old at the time – was placed in foster care whilst the local authority applied to the court for a care order.
HHJ Hesford concluded that the girl’s head injuries constituted significant physical harm, that one of the parents was involved in the injury, but on the balance of probabilities the injuries were not caused deliberately.
The summary version, titled ‘A Simple Story of the Court Case about B’, said: “This case is about a little girl called B. When she was a baby, she lived at home with her mum, and her dad. Both of B’s parents have learning difficulties. This means they find it harder than most people to understand information, to remember things clearly, and to explain things.”
The bullet point version broke the case down into a series of simple questions – such as What happened to B?, What did the parents say? and What did the judge decide? – with a short answer to each one.
Paul Magrath, a trustee at the Transparency Project, which aims to make family justice clearer, said: “We welcome this new development which, though ostensibly for the benefit of the litigants and their advisers, will surely promote the wider accessibility of judicial reasoning – particularly in an area of the law which can only benefit from better public understanding.
“While this is not the first time a judge has issued a simple additional judgment or used simplified language in the main judgment to help either parents or children to understand the court’s reasoning for its decision, in previous cases it was always done by the judge’s own creativity.
“The availability of AI to assist the process is therefore a beneficial development and we would expect it to be more widely used.
“Although anyone can use an AI tool to help them summarise or clarify a long or complex judgment, it is surely better for the judge to do so and check the accuracy of the result.”
Jackie O’Sullivan, executive director of strategy & influence at the learning disability charity Mencap, commented: “Legal documents are often full of jargon which can be bewildering for people with a learning disability and means that their needs are not met. It is vital that courts make reasonable adjustments to compensate for this.
“AI is a rapidly developing area and it’s extremely welcome to see it having a role in helping people understand complex information.”
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