Japan's Top Court to Test AI Use in Civil Trials

Tokyo, Sept. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Supreme Court plans to examine in the next fiscal year whether generative artificial intelligence can be used in civil trials.

On Monday, the top court announced its budget request for fiscal 2027, which included some 60 million yen for expenses related to the use of AI. This is the court's first budget request including such expenses.

According to the Supreme Court, records of settled lawsuits will be used in a demonstration test on AI use. Judges and other officials will input documents into an AI system to create, for example, rough drafts of record summaries and lists of points of contention.

The court will also develop a system to prevent the leakage of personal information about parties to lawsuits and companies' trade secrets.

In January and February this year, a research group of six mid-career judges from Tokyo and Osaka district courts conducted a test based on mock trial records.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]