The government says that AI has the potential to transform the justice system in England & Wales and deliver its ministerial priorities. AI shows great potential to help deliver swifter, fairer, and more accessible justice for all – reducing court backlogs, increasing prison capacity and improving rehabilitation outcomes as well as victim services. However, it also emphasises that public trust, human rights, and the rule of law remain central and AI risks are carefully managed.
The Ministry of Justice has issued its AI Action Plan for Justice which sets out its approach to responsible and proportionate AI adoption across courts, tribunals, prisons, probation and supporting services. It will focus on three strategic priorities:
Strengthen foundations
The government will enhance AI leadership, governance, ethics, data, digital infrastructure and commercial frameworks. A dedicated Justice AI Unit led by the Chief AI Officer will coordinate the delivery of the Plan, with input from government Data Science, Digital and Transformation teams. A cross-departmental AI Steering Group provides oversight and an AI and Data Ethics Framework, and communications plan will promote transparency and engagement.
Embed AI across the justice system
The government aims to deliver more effective services across citizen-facing, operational and enabling functions alike. By applying a “Scan, Pilot, Scale” approach, it will target high-impact use cases. These include:
- Reducing administrative burden with secure AI productivity tools including search, speech and document processing (e.g. transcription tools that allow probation officers to focus on higher-value work).
- Increasing capacity through better scheduling (e.g. prison capacity).
- Improving access to justice with citizen-facing assistants (e.g. enhancing case handling and service delivery in call centres).
- Enabling personalised education and rehabilitation (e.g. tailored training for our workforce and offenders).
- Supporting better decisions through predictive and risk-assessment models (e.g. predicting the risk of violence in custody).
Invest in people and partners
The Plan foresees investment in talent, training and proactive workforce planning to accelerate AI adoption and transform how the Ministry works. It will also strengthen partnerships with legal service providers and regulators to support AI-driven legal innovation and with criminal justice partners on a collective response to AI-enabled criminality.
