Justice, Ia helps efficiency but human judgement remains at the core

Moreover, the bill instructs the ministry to promote the training of magistrates and administrative staff on artificial intelligence and its uses in judicial activity. "This is not normal professional training," observed the head of the ministry's legislative office, Antonio Mura, "because it is a matter of gaining effective control of an instrument that is far-reaching but also risky. According to Mura, 'we have to equip ourselves to maximise the benefits of Ia'.

Apart from the regulations, artificial intelligence is already being used for some projects at the ministry, which reported on them in the last report on the Administration of Justice, which covers 2024. These include the 'Nemesis' programme, active at the ministry's General Inspectorate to rationalise internal administrative activity and databases, and the Platform for Investigations, a web-based solution supported by Ia that facilitates the work of the judicial police and the Pm during preliminary investigations.

In addition, the use of AI was introduced in the 'Data Lake' project, implemented within the framework of the NRP; this is a centralised system that allows any data to be stored, with the aim of using the ministry's information assets to guide data-driven strategic decisions. AI, in particular, is used to improve the management and analysis of judicial data, as well as for the anonymisation and pseudonymisation of documents. A focus is devoted to gender violence, with the adoption of AI-based technologies to improve operational efficiency and the protection of sensitive data.

Ia systems have also been activated to facilitate the consultation of court orders in the Merits Database, designed by the ministry. In addition, the Ia, the report states, is used on an organisational level to 'optimise workloads and anticipate critical issues', for searches among judgments on the merits, with the possibility of generating summaries of texts, and to monitor the disposition time (i.e. the foreseeable duration) of proceedings, for the purposes of the Pnrr objectives.

Also experimenting with the use of artificial intelligence are thejudicial offices, authorised by the ministry. Thus, at the Public Prosecutor's Office in Perugia a project has been developed to draftEuropean Arrest Warrant orders with AI. It is an application that, starting from the documents, is able to elaborate a draft of the order, in an editable format. "The system is fully operational,' observes the Attorney General of Perugia, Sergio Sottani. 'We are using it and we are satisfied. Documents are drafted in a few minutes. Of course, they have to be checked, but the time saving is evident. It is a good practice that is also available for other judicial offices in the district'.

In parallel, the interest of lawyers in the potential of artificial intelligence models is growing. Giving an insight into the dimensions of the phenomenon is the survey on AI and the legal profession conducted by the Milan Bar Association and the Sole 24 Ore: the second edition, one year after the first, was presented last May as part of "Talk to the future", the week of meetings and events organised by the Milan Bar Association itself.

Well, the survey reveals that among Milan lawyers more than one in two use artificial intelligence systems, with a growth of 20% in one year: from 32.4% in 2024 to 54.5% in 2025. There are peaks in use among young lawyers up to 35 years old (74.4% employ AI in 2025, up from 41% last year) and in firms with more than ten professionals (69.8% of lawyers use it, up from 43.9% in 2024). As for activities, lawyers employ Ia solutions mainly to synthesise texts, conduct case law research and prepare draft opinions.

"Ia is transforming the lawyers' approach to the use of technology for professional activity," reasons the president of the Milan lawyers, Antonino La Lumia. "The new tools," he continues, "allow more targeted jurisprudential research, not just for keywords but discursive, they enable rapid comparison of the various versions of contracts and due diligence, relieving lawyers from serial activities and freeing up time to think about strategies and quality work.

Of course, these uses are not without risk, also due to the "hallucinations" of the Ia, as highlighted by a ruling of the Court of Florence on 14 March last. The judges had to assess the conduct of a lawyer who had included sentences invented by the Ia (the result of research carried out by a study collaborator, the ruling reads, and not verified by professionals) in his appearance. The Court ruled out aggravated liability for reckless litigation against the lawyer, but censured 'the disvalue related to the failure to verify the actual existence of the sentences resulting from the Ia's interrogation'.

In this area too, the draft law on Ia sets a limit, stating that in the professions the new models may only be used for 'instrumental and support activities', while intellectual work must remain prevalent and in any case clients must be informed about the systems used. More detailed indications are contained in the 'Charter of Principles' for the use of Ia in the legal sphere, also drawn up by the Milan Bar Association: the centrality of human decision-making and the need for transparency are reaffirmed; the duty of competence and training for a aware use of the tools and attention to security and privacy are also mentioned. "We want to avoid the risk of flattening the results," La Lumia observes. "The lawyer must hold the helm, also because the responsibility remains with him.