Britain expands AI in courts with Microsoft Copilot to tackle massive case backlogs

David Lammy Announces Expanded AI in Courts to Address System Strain

Justice Secretary David Lammy revealed plans to significantly expand the increased use of artificial intelligence across courts in England and Wales, positioning technology as a critical tool for reducing court backlogs that have plagued the UK Justice System 1

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. Speaking at the Microsoft AI Tour event in London on February 24, Lammy, who also serves as deputy prime minister, confirmed that the Ministry of Justice has become "one of the fastest-growing users" of Microsoft Copilot in courts across government 2

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The digital modernization efforts will focus on transcribing speech and meetings, summarizing judgments, and supporting case scheduling through AI-assisted tools 1

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. Courts and tribunals are already testing technology previously deployed by the Probation Service, which has saved more than 25,000 hours by eliminating the need for officers to manually type notes from over 150,000 meetings between offenders and officers 2

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Justice AI Unit Receives £12 Million Boost for Digital Transformation

The Justice AI Unit will receive more than £12 million in additional funding for the next financial year to accelerate AI for case management initiatives 1

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. Immigration and asylum judges are already using AI to formulate notes and write remarks, while legal advisers and district judges in magistrates' courts are piloting transcription tools to speed up case progression 2

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. HM Courts and Tribunals Service plans to introduce an AI-assisted listing tool to support case scheduling across the system 1

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Darren Hardman, chief executive of Microsoft in the UK, described the Ministry of Justice as "one of the fastest-growing adopters of agentic AI"—technology that can interpret instructions in natural language and execute tasks like creating documents or interfacing with other software . Brian Leveson, a retired Court of Appeal judge whose review informed these changes, suggested courts could rely on AI summaries of witness statements when making case management decisions 3

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Concerns Mount Over AI Hallucination and Need for Human Involvement

Despite the ambitious rollout, serious concerns about AI reliability have emerged. Last month, an AI hallucination produced by Microsoft Copilot contributed to the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attending a match against Aston Villa 2

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. The error referenced a non-existent game between Tel Aviv and West Ham in a police report, raising questions about the technology's accuracy in high-stakes situations 3

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The Ontario Court of Justice, which Lammy praised as "digital by design, purposefully paperless," has also experienced AI problems 1

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. Last year, Justice Joseph Kenkel ordered a criminal defense lawyer to refile submissions containing a fabricated case and other unrelated ones, describing the errors as "numerous and substantial" and warning against using generative AI for legal research 1

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The Law Society of England & Wales expressed reservations about the expansion, emphasizing that human involvement remains essential. Vice President Richard Atkinson stated: "AI is not a silver bullet to improve the justice system. Where liberty and reputation are at stake, the government must take particular care to safeguard people's rights" 2

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. The organization warned that AI interpretation without human oversight could miss cultural nuances, potentially leading to miscarriages of justice 3

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Broader Justice Reforms Target Crown Court and Jury Trials

Lammy's AI push accompanies controversial proposals to halve the number of jury trials by removing defendants' rights to choose these for offences with sentences under three years 1

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. The government and judiciary agreed to a £2.785 billion settlement for courts and tribunals for 2026/27, up from £2.538 billion last year, allowing unlimited Crown Court sitting days 3

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. An additional £287 million will address the crumbling court estate 3

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. However, the expansion of judge-only trials faces opposition from Labour backbenchers, and the government may struggle to pass enabling legislation through Parliament 1

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