The international colloquium "Open Data and Artificial Intelligence" organized by the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union and the Supreme Court of Sweden took place in Stockholm on May 6. The Supreme Court of Latvia was represented by the Chief Justice Aigars Strupišs.

The opening speeches were delivered by Anders Eka, President of the Supreme Court of Sweden, and Bettina Limperg, President of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union.

In the opening speech, Bettina Limperg emphasized that although the topic for the colloquium was chosen already a few years ago, it has become increasingly relevant, with the pandemic greatly accelerating developments in the field of digital justice.

The discussions took place in three sessions. The first session focused on issues such as open knowledge and privacy, as well as open justice and respect for the work of the judiciary. Elisabeth Lovrek, President of the Supreme Court of Austria, and Damijan Florjančič, President of the Supreme Court of Slovenia presented reports on this topic.

The topic of the second session – “Open data and working methods of the Supreme Court”. The discussion was moderated by Donal O'Donnell, Chief Justice of Ireland. Participants tackled matters such as: the role of artificial intelligence in the work of supreme courts, potential of artificial intelligence to participate in court decision-making processes, and the possible advantages and disadvantages of using artificial intelligence at court work.

The concluding part of the discussion was devoted to respect for the rule of law. The report was presented by Iain Cameron, Professor in International Law at Uppsala University and Member (Sweden) of Council of Europe Commission on Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).

The colloquium was attended by representatives of the judiciary from 32 countries, including the supreme courts of the EU countries, Norway, United Kingdom, Albania and Montenegro.

 

Information prepared by Iveta Jaudzema, International cooperation specialist at the Supreme Court

E-mail: iveta.jaudzema@at.gov.lv; telephone: +371 67020396