AI key to resolving disclosure problems in criminal law

Speaking at a Criminal Bar Association event this week, Gross LJ said the Metropolitan Police recently spent 630 hours reviewing the content of three complainants’ mobile phones and Facebook accounts in one complicated rape case. In another case, where complainant and defendant met on Tinder, and there were only two phones to consider, 150 officer hours were required to examine 20,000 items of data.

‘It can fairly be said that technology has created many of our current disclosure problems,’ he said.

‘I am confident that technology, including AI, will ultimately—if not imminently—go a long way to solving them; I do not say all the way because trust and confidence in the process will remain essential ingredients. As to technology, please consider, by way of examples: advanced search methods; using technology to sort/list/group material; automatic rejection of poorly completed schedules and signposting to help the prosecution make the right decisions; true AI—computers learning from feedback to make accurate decisions.’

Gross LJ emphasised that disclosure must be seen as ‘integral to the criminal justice process—not as a tiresome add-on’, that ‘robust case management is essential’ and ‘the police need an “investigative mindset”’.

He said the test for prosecution disclosure—material ‘which might reasonably be considered capable of undermining the case for the prosecution against the accused or of assisting the case for the accused’—remains ‘fit for purpose’ despite the explosion of digital and social media.