Symposium ‘Digitalisation of Justice: Perspectives from Germany and the Netherlands’

Digitalisation is subjecting legal institutions to a profound process of transformation. Judicial proceedings, administrative procedures, and out-of-court dispute resolution mechanisms are increasingly shaped by digital communication and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). While these developments offer considerable potential in terms of efficiency, accessibility, and transparency within the justice system, they simultaneously raise fundamental questions concerning the rule of law and procedural fairness.

Measures on the EU level aimed at the digitalisation of justice – such as the European e-Justice Strategy 2024–2028 – have made clear that Member States must realign their justice systems not only technologically, but also normatively. Although fully online criminal proceedings, for example, may bring significant advantages for judicial systems (such as reduced costs), they may at the same time give rise to misunderstandings relating to modes of expression and non-verbal communication. The increasing relevance of digital innovation is by no means confined to criminal procedure, however.

Opportunities and risks

From AI-assisted adjudication in civil proceedings to the marginalisation of vulnerable groups in administrative decision-making, technological developments create both opportunities and risks across a wide range of legal fields. To address potential challenges, a legal perspective that looks beyond doctrinal boundaries – both across areas of law and across jurisdictions – is indispensable, as innovative solutions to many of these issues have already emerged in other legal systems and fields of law. In particular, given that national legislators and courts are responding to the current transformation at markedly different speeds, country-specific tensions arise between gains in efficiency and the protection of fundamental rights.

Against this backdrop, this symposium is guided by the central research question of the legal and institutional conditions under which the digitalisation of justice in Germany and the Netherlands can contribute to improved access to justice and to the quality of judicial decision-making. All whilst not undermining minimum standards of the rule of law and procedural guarantees.

Forum for dialogue

The primary aim of this symposium is to provide a forum for dialogue across different fields of law, to systematically identify the opportunities and risks associated with digitalisation in various legal domains, to highlight potential regulatory gaps, and to develop proposals for solutions through collective discussion.

Particular attention will be devoted to four core areas: private international law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, and administrative procedural law.

More information and registration

For more information,the full programme, and registration (free of charge), visit the event website.