AI Systems’ Impact on the Recognition of Foreign Judgements: The Case of Estonia

Abstract

Prominent search engines yield many millions of hits ^*1 when one searches for the keywords ‘robot judge’. While the discussion around AI technologies and their impact on society is increasingly focused on questions of whether and how the use of AI should be regulated and what kind of legal boundaries, we need for safeguarding fundamental rights in its context, the fact is that algorithmic systems are already used in the realms of litigation and judicial systems. The article presents an attempt to ascertain how the use of AI in judicial proceedings affects the cross-border recognition of judgements and, thereby, influences society in general. Special attention is given to the pivotal matter of trust in judicial decisions of other countries. More precisely, can the use of AI reshape or otherwise influence the current procedure of cross‑border recognition of judgements and the judicial duties of a judge in that procedure, at least in the case of Estonia?