The Use of AI in Criminal Justice: Unpacking the EU's Human-Centric AI Strategy

Abstract

In order to mitigate concerns over potential disruptive impacts of the integration of artificial intelligence in the criminal justice system on criminal justice, the article explores the European Union's human-centric approach towards that integration, emphasising the balance to be struck between technological advancement and fundamental values and rights on the basis of legal and ethical principles. While existing literature explores AI's role in the criminal justice systems, devoid of sufficient in-depth analysis on the application of EU’s human-centric strategy in the criminal justice systems, there is a gap in examining how the EU’s human-centric strategy directly shapes legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks. Based on the EU AI strategy with the aim of moderately filling this gap it discusses how the framework addresses ethical concerns in order to keep human’s place centric with safeguarded fundamental rights and values in the application of the AI system within the criminal justice system. To attain that objective the analysis highlights the mitigation of bias and enhancement of fairness, the protection of privacy and data, the significance of human oversight, encouraging multi-stakeholder engagement, the non-substitution of human judges by automated decision-making within the framework of the EU's commitment to developing AI technologies that all serve the public good while respecting fundamental rights and values. The article contributes to the ongoing discourse on responsible AI integration into criminal justice by synthesising insights from legal, ethical and AI governance frameworks.