UK Justice Secretary pushes expanded AI use in courts to tackle backlogs

In a speech at the Microsoft AI Tour in London, Lammy outlined a vision for using AI to help address persistent backlogs in the criminal justice system, which currently stands at tens of thousands of unresolved cases, by automating and streamlining court administration and case progression tasks.

He described how pilot tools have already been used in the probation system to transcribe meetings and save over 25,000 hours of administrative time. He said similar AI transcription and summarisation systems are being tested in courts and tribunals to help judges, magistrates and legal advisers handle paperwork more efficiently.

Lammy also announced plans to invest more in an in-house Justice AI unit, with additional funding, to support pilot AI tools such as an intelligent listing assistant (J-AI) to help schedule and prioritise cases, and to strengthen partnerships with technology firms alongside funding programmes like LawtechUK to support law-tech innovation.

The Ministry of Justice will expand the use of AI tools to assist transcription, case summary generation and legal analysis, aiming to free up human judges and staff to focus on substantive decision-making.

The reforms come amid broader judicial changes, including lifting caps on court sitting days and proposals to reduce the number of jury trials for less serious offences, to alleviate bottlenecks that could otherwise take years to clear.

However, legal industry groups such as The Law Society of England and Wales have expressed reservations, saying AI may help with administrative tasks. Still, they should not replace critical human judgement in decisions with serious consequences.

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