FRA calls for fundamental rights safeguards as justice goes digital

The University of Nicosia acts as the main contractor for FRA in Cyprus for the FRANET project. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is one of the EU’s decentralised agencies, acting as a centre of fundamental rights expertise.

FRA’s ‘Digitalising Justice: A Fundamental Rights-based Approach’ report examines a range of digital solutions in use. They include video conferencing in trials, e-case management systems to streamline and simplify administrative procedures, online platforms for public access to information, crime reporting and legal aid, and AI-based anonymisation and transcription tools.

Justice professionals and technical experts interviewed by FRA broadly support digitalisation to increase efficiency and close gaps in access to justice. However, they also acknowledge the risks when fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial and data protection, are not adequately embedded in the design and development of these tools.

To ensure that the digitalisation of justice respects fundamental rights and delivers on its promise of greater efficiency, the report calls for:

• Built-in fundamental rights safeguards: Digital tools in justice systems are often designed for speed and efficiency. But they must also make justice more transparent and accessible, and ensure equality before the law. Addressing data protection and privacy concerns is essential, yet not sufficient. Authorities must also assess how digital solutions affect all fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial and non-discrimination.
• Wider stakeholder consultation: Developers often design digital justice tools based on experiences from a narrow user base such as judges, court staff or prosecutors. To ensure these tools truly serve everyone and are fit for purpose, digitalisation requires collaboration with diverse stakeholders. This includes human rights experts, civil society and representatives of affected communities. Ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities exemplifies the importance of inclusive design in ensuring tools meet diverse user needs.
• Maintaining non-digital alternatives and increasing support: Not everybody has the same access to technology or the skills to use it confidently. Factors such as poverty, age or education make it harder for some people to benefit from digital services. Therefore, overreliance on digital services risks creating digital divides. To address this, traditional, non-digital justice procedures should remain available while authorities invest in measures to close the digital gap. Ensuring equal access to digital and non-digital justice processes helps to ensure fair trials, effective representation and that no one is left behind.
• Fundamental rights training: Training and support for digital justice tools often focus only on how the technology works. But understanding the broader fundamental risks is just as important. Users need to be aware of issues like bias, discrimination, data breaches or errors when using AI. Providing comprehensive training and safeguards are critical to ensuring responsible use of digital technologies in justice systems.

Quote from FRA Director Sirpa Rautio:

“Digitalisation holds great promise for justice systems. It can make justice faster, easier and more accessible. But to truly harness its benefits, we must carefully assess its full impact on fundamental rights. We must also bridge the digital divides and ensure access to justice for all, so that no one is left behind.”

The report is based on fundamental rights analysis of 31 digital tools and systems in Austria, Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Portugal. The research involved interviews with technical experts and justice practitioners experienced in developing, deploying or using the tools.

Resources and Downloads:

• Digitalising Justice: A Fundamental Rights-based Approach – PDF (EN)