The “Digital Rights” Forum at UOB Calls for Applying Artificial Intelligence in Litigation

At the end of the activities of the “Digital Rights Forum: Changes and Challenges”, the participants recommended the importance of working on concluding Arab agreements that regulate the right to be digitally forgotten, applying artificial intelligence in litigation and its procedures, and using modern technologies to facilitate the process of criminal case management and communication between offenders and judges.

The forum which was organized by the Legal Clinic Center at the College of Law, and the Computer Engineering Department at the College of Information Technology at the University of Bahrain (UOB) had many speakers that discussed “digital rights and information crimes in the information and communication technology sector, and digital rights in light of civil and commercial transactions and the laws of evidence.”

The participants in the Forum’s sessions called for the Supreme Judicial Council website to include all final judicial rulings, even if they are not issued by the courts of cassation, in order to benefit the legal researchers and enable them to enhance their scientific research. They also called for a legislation to regulate and limit the civil liability of the robot for errors resulting from its actions.

In the same context, the speakers considered the importance of including clear clauses in agreements for the use of electronic communication sites that clarify the future of the user’s digital legacy, and to educate merchants on the need to use the digital signature for the authenticity of their electronic documents.

Moreover, the participants recommended establishing civil and commercial courts specialized in electronic matters and contracts, provided that the judges should be trained in the field of information technology, as well as allocating a budget to establish a national center for electronic public keys, similar to all Gulf countries so that everyone can benefit from, such as the telecommunications companies and the banking sector, as they’re considered safer and have the lowest operational cost, in return for a fee for each approved certificate issued for electronic signature. And allocating part of the state’s general budget for digital transformation in the judiciary field for what this transformation requires of modern electronic resources and systems.

Also, the recommendations included a call for further development of the College of Law courses to integrate digital technology and artificial intelligence courses within the Bachelor’s and post-graduate programs.

The Deputy President of the Supreme Judicial Council and President of the Court of Cassation, Counselor Abdulla bin Hassan Al-Buainain, raised a number of questions about the importance of digital justice in light of the new rights, changes and challenges created by the digital revolution, during a speech he delivered at the opening of the Digital Rights Forum, in the presence of the Attorney General, Dr. Ali bin Fadel Al-Buainain, and the President of UOB, Prof. Riyad Yousef Hamzah. Where he called for examining the answer to: how necessary it is to pass legislation for civil and criminal procedures that keep pace with these changes, the impact of digital transformation on procedures in light of traditional court sessions in the presence of litigants, the court’s taking over the secretariat, public hearings and the issuance of judgments in a public session, and the challenges facing justice when introducing artificial intelligence to the work of courts in terms of its impact on litigation procedures and the judicial services of litigators.