Jaap van den Herik in Universiteit van Vlaanderen podcast on computers in the courtroom
Can a computer give just as good a judgment as a judge? Professor emeritus Law and IT believes it can and talks about using computers in the courtroom in a podcast of the Universiteit van Vlaanderen.
Computer systems are certainly capable of giving good judgments, Jaap van den Herik, Professor emeritus Law and IT at Leiden University, claims. This involves big data, where computer systems can be used to administer law by searching through court decisions given by judges in comparable cases. But Van den Herik also calls for caution – a vigilant human eye is still needed.
The law and IT are not yet ‘best buddies’ so to speak, the reason for Van den Herik and his colleagues at Leiden University to develop the Dutch taught Leiden Legal Technologies Program. Legal big data is a reality today that legal professionals will have to learn to embrace. The judicial system is currently facing serious delays. Information technology can be used to help catch up with the backlog by automating and digitalising legal processes.
Listen here to the podcast of the Universiteit van Vlaanderen (in Dutch) or find out more here (Dutch only) about Jaap van den Herik and his lecture on the topic.