UK to Roll Out AI Tools in Crown Courts to Tackle Record Backlog

The UK government will introduce AI-powered virtual legal assistants across Crown Courts after controlled trials, the Ministry of Justice confirmed. Judges will receive an AI tool that identifies trial-ready cases and consolidates similar hearings to free court time. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy is scheduled to announce the programme at London Tech Week on Tuesday.

He will also state that probation officers in England and Wales will receive an AI system that automatically records and transcribes conversations with offenders. " The Crown Court backlog in England and Wales reached a record high of over 80,000 cases earlier this year. That figure is more than double the 38,108 cases recorded in 2019.

Freedom of information data obtained by the Press Association showed 2,600 trials not listed until at least 2028 and 29 trials not scheduled until 2030. The government has separately outlined plans to scale back jury trials to reduce the backlog. The Law Society of England and Wales called for the outcomes of any AI trials to be published.

Ian Jeffery, chief executive of the Law Society, said the pilot must be thoroughly evaluated and that results, along with the impact of AI on the justice system, should be made public. He added that new technology cannot replace funding and additional court staff.

Andrew Thomas KC, vice chair of the Criminal Bar Association, welcomed faster routine tasks but warned that AI tools must be used with checks and balances.

He said criminal law depends on human interactions and that AI lacks the social and emotional understanding to assess every piece of evidence. The announcement follows a review of the November ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at an Aston Villa match. The review found that an "AI hallucination" from Microsoft Copilot contributed to police justification by referencing a non-existent game between Tel Aviv and West Ham.