Digital Justice and Law Administration

A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2023) | Viewed by 3766

Special Issue Editors

Faculty of Law, University of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: public administration; public policy; statistics; data analysis; social sciences; law special issue information
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Lisbon Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: administrative law; state liability; public aids; public procurement; legal technology
ENFAM—National School for the Training and Improvement of Magistrates, SCES - Trecho 3, Polo 8, Lote 9, 1º andar, Prédio do Conselho da Justiça Federal (CJF), Brasília, Brazil
Interests: law; administration of justice; legal technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today, it has become unavoidable to study the topic of digitalization of the administration of justice, as its development allows for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial system, making access to justice faster and more accessible. Additionally, it can also improve the transparency and reliability of the system, as well as the security of citizens' data.

Therefore, the following legal challenges of digitalization of the administration of justice are noteworthy: (i) ensuring that citizens' fundamental rights are protected and respected in a digital environment; (ii) ensuring that digital court proceedings are secure and authentic, and how to prevent fraud or manipulation of information; (iii) ensuring the transparency and explainability of artificial intelligence algorithms used in the administration of justice; (iv) establishing and applying civil and criminal responsibility in the use of artificial intelligence in the administration of justice; (v) ensuring the protection of personal data and citizens' privacy during the digitalization process of the administration of justice; (vi) ensuring that the digitalization of the administration of justice does not result in barriers to access to justice for certain groups of people; (vii) ensuring the integrity of the judicial process and preventing undue influence from third parties.

This Special Issue will embrace an assortment of papers presenting original, innovative, and scientific contributions to the academy, aiming to answer the following questions: how do we ensure that citizens' rights and fundamental principles are protected and respected in a digital justice environment? How do we prevent fraud or manipulation of information and ensure transparency, explainability, and administered justice in the digital mode?

Dr. Pedro Miguel Alves Ribeiro Correia
Dr. Ricardo Lopes Dinis Pedro
Dr. Fabrício Castagna Lunardi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Laws is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • digitalization of justice administration and law
  • e-justice
  • online court systems
  • legal technology
  • artificial intelligence and law
  • data protection and privacy in the legal system
  • access to justice in the digital age
  • transparency and accountability in the digital legal system
  • cybersecurity in the legal system
  • legal ethics and digitalization

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1621 KiB  
Article
Exploring Defuturing to Design Artificial-Intelligence Artifacts: A Systemic-Design Approach to Tackle Litigiousness in the Brazilian Judiciary
by Luciane Amaral Corrêa Münch and Taís Schilling Ferraz
Laws 2024, 13(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws13010004 - 11 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1114
Abstract
From the perspective of defuturing design philosophy, this article discusses the close relationship between the growing body of artificial-intelligence (AI) artifacts in the Brazilian Judiciary and the phenomenon of litigiousness therein. Litigiousness has traditionally been tackled through mechanisms that increase productivity and efficiency [...] Read more.
From the perspective of defuturing design philosophy, this article discusses the close relationship between the growing body of artificial-intelligence (AI) artifacts in the Brazilian Judiciary and the phenomenon of litigiousness therein. Litigiousness has traditionally been tackled through mechanisms that increase productivity and efficiency in case processing, a strategy that has not succeeded in reducing litigiousness, as data make evident. Analyzing data from relevant sources, this article demonstrates that AI artifacts mostly perform tasks related to clustering and mass handling of cases, following the same path dependency. Consequently, they entail risks of judges’ alienation and loss of agency, which can negatively impact citizens’ fundamental rights. Moreover, they defuture; that is, they erase other (preferable) futures. Albeit AI artifacts can play a part in tackling litigiousness, there should be a critical reflection upon futuring and defuturing. Therefore, this article recommends that SoDF—a systemic approach to design that seeks to explore design consequences, futuring and defuturing—be mandatory to any AI design process. Additionally, it proposes continuous judicial monitoring for alienation and loss of agency, as well as investments in judicial education to empower judges to effectively control and supervise AI artifacts. Finally, it suggests a further research agenda. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Justice and Law Administration)
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24 pages, 1566 KiB  
Article
An Overview of the Portuguese Electronic Jurisdictional Administrative Procedure
by António Mendes Oliveira, Ricardo Lopes Dinis Pedro, Pedro Miguel Alves Ribeiro Correia and Fabrício Castagna Lunardi
Laws 2023, 12(5), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/laws12050084 - 17 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1661
Abstract
In this paper, we seek to define the Portuguese Electronic Jurisdictional Administrative Procedure and characterize the scope and success of its implementation in terms of access to justice and court efficiency. It encompasses different perspectives on the judicial system and the electronic administrative [...] Read more.
In this paper, we seek to define the Portuguese Electronic Jurisdictional Administrative Procedure and characterize the scope and success of its implementation in terms of access to justice and court efficiency. It encompasses different perspectives on the judicial system and the electronic administrative procedure, reflecting the diversity of its authors, and combines a theoretical approach and discussion with statistics produced with official judicial data. Therefore, it introduces the issue and its background and discusses the models and principles of electronic judicial procedure and its representation in the Portuguese judicial procedure and law. It also presents the Portuguese exceptional and temporary regime for conducting judicial hearings in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing its merits and presenting the corresponding judicial statistics. The paper concludes that the advent of electronic judicial procedure, driven by technological advancements and aiming to achieve procedural effectiveness and efficiency, represents a paradigm shift and a change in the nature of the legal process, i.e., an ontological transformation in the theory of the process that requires a robust conceptual framework, to ensure consistent interpretation and application of procedural law and to guarantee respect for equality and legal certainty. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Justice and Law Administration)
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