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Articles by Natalie Byrom
'Sycophantic' AI inflaming litigants in person, digital justice expert claims
Unrepresentated parties in the family courts are being misled by 'sycophantic' AI advice systems, a leading expert in digital justice said this week. In a report for the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, Dr Natalie Byrom - whose 2019 report on digital justice kicked off HM Courts & Tribunals Service's data strategy - also cautions against embedding overseas-developed proprietary software in the courts system. Delegated by Default?
High cost of court transcripts is neither inevitable nor accidental
When Juliana Terlizzi’s rapist was convicted in 2022, her therapist advised her to obtain the transcript of her trial to help with her recovery. She was quoted £7,500 to access this document, a sum she could not afford to pay. The denial of her application for a free transcript left her feeling 'used and discarded' by the court system that relied on her testimony and was meant to protect her. Julia’s experience is far from unique.
Towards effective governance of justice data
OECD Working Papers on Public Governance Selected studies on public governance policy prepared for use within the OECD. These papers address such issues as pensions, ageing, management, pay and decentralistion in the public sector. English Towards effective governance of justice data This working paper explores the role of data governance in advancing people-centred justice systems.
Online Procedure Rule Committee launches sub-committee
The sub-committee includes expertise from across the civil, family and tribunals justice sector and members of the judiciary. From: Online Procedure Rule Committee Published 15 July 2024 The Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC), formed in June 2023, today (15 July 2024) welcomes members to its newly formed sub-committee.
Where has my justice gone?
The Nuffield Foundation hosted a conference delving into the intricate challenges facing the justice system, and proposed strategies to mitigate them. Delegates from research, policy and practice heard a comprehensive exploration of the justice system’s current landscape through presentations from Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder and Dr Natalie Byrom. One of the event’s focal points was the diverse array of legal needs experienced by individuals.
Consumer-facing legal artificial intelligence needs regulation now
Recent research from academics at Stanford has raised concerns about the performance of consumer facing AI tools, like ChatGPT, when used by people to access legal information and advice.
Victims are getting lost in the justice system — IDs could help
The writer sits on the Civil Justice Council and the UK Ministry of Justice’s senior data governance panel In 2013, Helen Pearson was...
Unregulated artificial intelligence legal advice puts the public at risk
Earlier this month, the case of Felicity Harber, who was found to have relied on fake legal authorities generated by ‘an AI system, such as Chat GPT’ in her appeal before the First Tier Tax Tribunal, was widely reported. Harber’s case is the latest example of an unrepresented litigant relying on inaccurate AI generated material – in May this year reports surfaced of a similar incident in Manchester County Court.
Strengthened by service
Boston Scientific is proud to support veterans and active service members in its global workforce. For Veterans Day, two employees discuss their experiences at the company after serving, and share how the valuable skills they developed in the military have helped them grow in their careers. Finding another way to serve Roger Mont knows what it’s like to work under pressure.
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm joins Australian AI healthcare start-up
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm has joined the board of an Australian healthcare start-up backed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, as it seeks global adoption of its artificial intelligence-based medical imaging technology. Harrison.ai, which has funding from Li’s Horizon Ventures, has named Denholm to its board in a signal that the Sydney-based business is looking to expand rapidly into international markets.
Financial Times
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AI risks deepening unequal access to legal information
The writer sits on the Civil Justice Council and the UK Ministry of Justice’s senior data governance panel ChatGPT, the technology that...
Criminals not tagged because of data failures
Failures in a digital case management system have meant that court orders designed to protect the public were not put into effect, according to findings published by the National Audit Office today. “For example,” the parliamentary watchdog says, “in 35 cases an individual was not fitted with an electronic monitoring tag when they should have been.” It’s understood that these individuals were criminals released into the community on licence.
Why we need a data lab for justice
Helen Pearson was stabbed eight times in a churchyard near her home in Exeter in 2013 following a campaign of intimidation, harassment and vandalism by her neighbour Joe Willis. She survived – but the Independent Police Complaints Commission later found that Devon and Cornwall Police had missed multiple opportunities to protect her. In the five years before the attack, Helen made more than 125 complaints to the police.
Why we need a data lab
Helen Pearson was stabbed eight times in a churchyard near her home in Exeter in 2013 following a campaign of intimidation, harassment and vandalism by her neighbour Joe Willis. She survived – but the Independent Police Complaints Commission later found that Devon and Cornwall Police had missed multiple opportunities to protect her. In the five years before the attack, Helen made more than 125 complaints to the police.
Justice Lab will find the facts
A new policy and research centre will be launched this week to tackle the most pressing challenges faced by the UK’s justice systems. Justice Lab, as it’s called, will use data and evidence to identify problems and work towards resolving them. It will undertake and commission research as well as working with decision-makers in government, the judiciary and relevant justice agencies.
Justice reform 'needs more data' - lawtech experts
A lack of data about how the justice system functions is a barrier to hopes of improving services through technology, lawtech experts heard in London this week. ‘The justice system as a whole is massively under-empiricised,’ Dr Natalie Byrom (pictured) of the Legal Education Foundation told an event organised by the government-funded LawtechUK project. Because the system ‘counts cases not people’, little hard knowledge can be extracted about barriers to access to justice, Byrom said.
Anti-social behaviour injunctions are a great unknown
Persistent anti-social behaviour in the form of harassment, threats or noise disturbance can wreck lives and disrupt close-knit communities. But revelations this week from an investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism that mentally ill and vulnerable people are being sent to prison for continuing to feed pigeons or play dominos in public raise serious questions as to whether a key legal tool introduced to tackle it is working effectively.
Appointment of four members to the Civil Justice Council
Stay in touch Become a part of The Exeter Daily social network & join us on Twitter and Facebook RSS Subscribe to The Exeter Daily news feed to stay up to date Launched in 2012, the is a unique, independent, crowd-sourced, website dedicated to reporting community news. We welcome contributions from individuals and organisations. Find out how you can contribute.
Selling court data
Digitisation of court judgments offers both opportunities and risks, a senior Conservative backbencher says today. In the foreword to a report about the use of court data, Sir Bob Neill MP argues that clear guidelines are needed to maintain public trust. The report is the first to explore public attitudes to the commercial use of court records. It concludes that there is strong public support for robust governance and oversight.
Justice Committee publishes new report on court capacity recommending urgent action on data collection
The House of Commons Justice Committee has today published the findings of their inquiry into court capacity. The report cites evidence from The Legal Education Foundation’s Director of Research, Dr Natalie Byrom, and calls for urgent action to improve the data that is collected by the courts. Responding to the report, Dr Byrom says: “The Legal Education Foundation welcomes this important report from the select committee.
Court judgments made accessible to all at The National Archives | Ministry of Justice
Court judgments made accessible to all at The National Archives In a boost for open justice, court and tribunal judgments are now freely available from The National Archives.
Membership of the Family Transparency Implementation Group announced
News & Comment Online Shop CPD & Events Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email editor@familylaw.co.uk.
Data delayed is justice denied
A long-awaited public database of court rulings will include only those deemed to be “legally significant”, the government has confirmed. It’s not known who will decide which cases are significant or on what grounds. However, the Law Society Gazette exclusively reported last week that the first batch of judgments to appear on the archive will be the decisions of the senior courts from 2003. Judges have computers. But what data can they access?
The Impact of Digital Adoption within Courts and Tribunals | techUK
The Impact of Digital Adoption within Courts and Tribunals Guest Blog by Joely Lomas, tech-UK’s Local Public Services and Justice and Emergency Services Intern reflects on her summer internship. I’m from Swansea, Wales but have lived in the US for the past 6 years.
TLEF Response to Law Commission consultation calls for reform to the law governing the use of automated and assisted decision making systems by public bodies
July 26, 2021 TLEF response argues for the need for the Law Commission to develop positive regulatory and legislative solutions to govern the use of automated and assisted decision-making systems by public sector bodies. The Legal Education Foundation has today published a response to the Law Commission’s consultation on its 14th programme of law reform.
Making sense of ‘Justice System Data’: a new report
A guest blog for The Legal Education Foundation by report authors Dr. Judith Townend and Dr Cassandra Wiener It’s perhaps because the roots of ‘open justice’ run so deep that the data and information generated by our justice system is so messy. The system that produces, stores and shares that data is not something neatly and purposively designed but rather has – to continue the horticultural metaphor – entwined tendrils that are difficult to untangle and follow.
TLEF funded research reveals urgent need for public consultation and evidence to support safe and effective justice data sharing
July 21, 2021 Report by Dr. Judith Townend and Dr. Cassandra Wiener explores international approaches to defining, managing, and sharing justice system data and considers the impact of these approaches on judicial independence, innovation, and public understanding of and confidence in the justice system.
Expert and Advisory Panel appointed for the Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid
The Expert and Advisory Panel, appointed by the Lord Chancellor, will provide support by testing and challenging the review’s emerging findings and recommendations. Sir Christopher, who was appointed by the Lord Chancellor on 21 December 2020 will chair monthly meetings of the expert and advisory panel, beginning in February.
Editorial Team
Prof Jeff King Professor of Law at UCL — Co-Principal Investigator, General Editor, Area Editor for Legal Framework, Institutions, and Social Policy, and Rapporteur for the United Kingdom Dr Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz Reader in Transnational Law at KCL Law — Co-Principal Investigator, General Editor, Area Editor for Public Health and Human Rights, and Rapporteur for Brazil Prof Tendayi Achiume Professor of Law, UCLA Law School - UN Special Rapporteur on Racism and Xenophobia — Area Editor for...
The Oxford Compendium of National Legal Responses to Covid-19: Browse
Belgium: Legal Response to Covid-19 » Belgium [be] Emmanuel Slautsky, Frédéric Bouhon, Camille Lanssens, Andy Jousten, Xavier Miny Content type Encyclopedia entries DOI: 10.1093/law-occ19/e1.013.1 Except where the text indicates the contrary, the law is as it stood on: 23 December 2020 1. Belgium is a federal, parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with a codified Constitution first adopted in 1831 and amended regularly since the 1970s. The Constitution was renumbered in 1994.
Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice - Legal Tech and the Future of Civil Justice
A four-session virtual event exploring how digital technologies are reshaping the civil justice system February 10, 17, 24, & March 3, 2021 at 9:00am to 10:30am PST Legal tech, most agree, is transforming litigation and law practice, and its steady advance has tapped a rich vein of anxiety about the future of the legal profession. Much of the resulting debate has a defensive quality in its focus on what legal tech portends for the professional authority, and profitability, of lawyers.
Justice depends on data - and pandemic shows us why
Mr C is an 88-year-old man involved in a long-running housing dispute, the outcome of which could see him evicted. Due to Covid-19, his next hearing will take place by phone. The landlord has a lawyer; Mr C does not. Without a computer, Mr C has been unable to access the information he needs from the court to join this hearing. Due to his lack of technology, Mr C will have no chance to explain his case for why he should be allowed to stay in the home he has lived in since 1932.
Data Bites #6: Getting things done with data in government
Wednesday 2 October 2019, 18:00 - 19:20 Better use of data is key to more effective government. Across government, teams are doing fascinating work with data. But those projects don’t get the attention they deserve. At this event, the sixth in our series, our speakers presented their data projects in an exciting, quickfire format. Each set of speakers had eight minutes, followed by eight minutes of questions from the audience.
3rd Punjab & Haryana Bar Council Virtual Dialogue Session (9th May)
The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana is organizing the 3rd virtual dialogue session. Date: 9th May Time: 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Theme: Law in the Digital Age and Indian Legal Service Industry Transformation and Functioning of Courts: The Bench, Bar and Government Perspective.
ODI Fridays: Monitoring equality in public services - the value of protected characteristics
Fri Jan 31, 2020 13:00 Open Data Institute, 65 Clifton Street, London, EC2A 4JE Book This talk explores a new report written by the ODI and funded by the Legal Education Foundation, explaining the problem digital services face, and explores how the issue can be tackled by service designers, regulators and further research ODI Fridays are free lunchtime lectures for everyone. You bring your lunch, we provide tea and coffee, an interesting talk, and enough time to get back to your desk.
Using case data to improve decision-making
I try to avoid beginning pieces with statistics. But these will make your jaw drop. If you bring an appeal to the Social Security Tribunal against the government’s refusal to award you a personal independence payment, there is a 73% likelihood that you will succeed. In the Special Educational Needs Tribunal last year, the overturn rate for local government decision-making was 89%.
HMCTS publishes response to report on use of data
Dr Natalie Byrom, Director of Research and Learning at The Legal Education Foundation (TLEF), has today (2 October 2019) published the findings and recommendations of her report into the use of data by the HMCTS Reform Programme. HMCTS brought in Dr Byrom during autumn 2018 to advise on strategies to enhance the organisation’s academic engagement and improve how it makes data available for research purposes, having long recognised these as areas for prioritisation.
The new public repository of judgments is a triumph for open justice- but there is more to do
TLEF’s Director of Research, Dr Natalie Byrom explains why last week’s announcement is such a significant step and calls on the Ministry of Justice to make good on its commitment to develop a complete record of judgments and decisions. Alex Kelly was just 15 years old when he was found hanging in his cell at Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institution on 24th January 2012. In his short childhood he suffered serious sexual abuse and at the time of his arrest he was living in care.
Online Courts and the Future of Justice (with images, tweets) · NatalieByrom
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Rethinking the Lawyers' Monopoly
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