Justice minister Sarah Sackman has called on the UK legal sector to embrace artificial intelligence more rapidly, highlighting the potential for technology to improve the operation of courts and legal services.
Speaking about developments in legal technology, Sackman pointed to the growing use of generative artificial intelligence within the legal profession and said the UK needed to ensure that its justice system remained capable of adapting to technological change.
The minister highlighted Singapore as an example of a jurisdiction that has moved quickly to incorporate AI into legal services. She said that around three quarters of Singaporean lawyers now have access to generative AI tools that can assist with legal research, administrative work and complex legal issues.
Sackman also outlined measures being developed in the UK to introduce AI into the court system. These include technology designed to assist with transcription, court listing and the summarisation of cases, with the aim of helping cases progress more efficiently.
The government is also supporting legal services AI growth labs intended to provide opportunities for responsible experimentation and development within the legal technology sector.
Sackman said the use of AI needed to be accompanied by appropriate safeguards and oversight. She emphasised the importance of retaining human judgement within the justice system while using technology to reduce administrative work and improve efficiency.
The minister also pointed to the UK’s wider legal technology sector, noting that a significant proportion of European lawtech start-ups are based in the UK. She said investment in UK-founded lawtech companies had also increased, demonstrating the country’s existing position in the sector.
The government’s approach forms part of a broader effort to modernise the justice system and ensure that legal services can adapt to emerging technologies. The minister also highlighted recent developments involving digital assets and the government’s efforts to promote English law internationally.
The comments come as courts and legal professionals continue to assess how artificial intelligence can be used in areas such as document management, legal research, case preparation and court administration.
Sackman’s position is that technological development should be accompanied by reliable legal safeguards, allowing AI to improve the efficiency of legal services without removing the human oversight central to the justice system.
