Course Description

Strengthening justice systems in the age of artificial intelligence 

Courts around the world are entering a new technological era. Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving beyond experimentation into everyday judicial practice — supporting legal research, analysing evidence, translating proceedings in real time, managing case flows and even informing risk and sentencing assessments.

This transformation offers powerful opportunities to improve access to justice and modernise court systems. Yet it also places new responsibility on judicial institutions to ensure that innovation does not compromise due process, independence or public trust.

This online course, founded by UNESCO and developed in partnership with the Saïd Business School, the Blavatnik School of Government and the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, equips justice sector professionals with the knowledge and frameworks needed to navigate this transformation responsibly.

Fully funded by UNESCO with the support of the European Union and free of charge for participants, the programme explores how AI can support access to justice while upholding fundamental human rights and the rule of law.

Course overview

The programme includes approximately 12 hours of guided learning, completed at your own pace.

You will engage with:

• Short expert-led video sessions

• Comparative international case studies

• Reflective exercises and scenario analysis

• Practical discussions on AI tools used in legal contexts

• A downloadable personal learning portfolio

Modules

Module 1: AI in Legal Practice: Tools, Opportunities, and Risks

• Examine how AI is currently used in courts across jurisdictions.

• Explore different types of AI tools, assess their outputs in judicial contexts, identify common risks, and consider the key decision points involved in adopting or procuring new AI systems.

Module 2: Ensuring AI Fairness and Accuracy in Judicial Contexts

• Define AI fairness and analyse how bias can arise at data, model and institutional levels.

• Investigate the harms caused by algorithmic bias and develop approaches to prevent and mitigate unfair outcomes within judicial settings.

Module 3: Developing AI Transparency Mechanisms in the Justice System

Explore transparency, explainability and interpretability in court proceedings. Assess how data governance, privacy and intellectual property considerations affect AI systems, and determine what information judges should require before admitting or relying on AI-generated outputs.

Module 4: Building Trust and Accountability when Using AI

Examine levels of human oversight in judicial work and consider when it is appropriate to rely on AI systems. Analyse how trust, accuracy and accountability issues emerge before, during and after trial, and reflect on how AI use interacts with procedural safeguards.

Module 5: Promoting Human Rights of Access to Justice and Fair Trial in the Age of AI

Apply fair trial principles to the use of AI in judicial processes. Evaluate the limits of delegation to automated systems and assess access to justice frameworks to identify gaps in protection, monitoring and remedy. Consider responsible uses of generative AI by counsel.

Module 6. Protecting Women’s Rights and Access to Justice in the Age of AI

Examine how AI systems may propagate gender bias and create new vectors of harm against women and marginalised groups. Explore how human rights standards and intersectional governance approaches can address contemporary AI-related risks.

What you will gain

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Investigate how AI applications are used in judicial practice, assess their potential to improve access to justice, and identify the risks they pose

• Critically assess AI-assisted tools, evidence and procedures to ensure they uphold, rather than erode, substantive fairness

• Evaluate how black-box AI systems challenge transparency and judicial reasoning

• Recommend how courts can preserve trust and accountability when externally developed AI systems are used in decision-making

• Analyse how AI is reshaping the right of access to justice and a fair trial under international human rights law

• Evaluate how AI systems can both undermine and advance women’s rights within judicial systems and broader governance frameworks

Developed by global experts

The course is led by faculty from the University of Oxford, in collaboration with UNESCO, and is grounded in internationally recognised standards on AI and the rule of law. It is based on:

• UNESCO’s Global Toolkit on AI and the Rule of Law for the Judiciary

• The Guidelines for the Use of AI in Courts and Tribunals

• Comparative case studies from judicial systems worldwide

• Interdisciplinary research on law, technology and governance

• International human rights law and principles of judicial independence

Bringing together academic expertise and normative frameworks, the course provides judges and judicial professionals with structured guidance for navigating AI adoption within courts while safeguarding fairness, accountability and fundamental rights.

Faculty

The academic direction for this course is provided by these professors from across the University of Oxford, bringing together expertise in AI regulation, public international law and technology governance:

• Professor Ignacio Cofone, Professor of Law and Regulation of AI, Faculty of Law and the Institute for Ethics in AI

• Professor Philippa Webb, Professor of Public International Law, Blavatnik School of Government and Co-founder and Director, Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice

Together, Professor Ignacio Cofone and Professor Philippa Webb combine rigorous legal scholarship with practical insight into how justice systems can adopt AI in ways that protect fairness, human rights and the rule of law.

The thinking behind the programme

Justice systems are foundational to democratic societies. As AI technologies become more embedded in legal processes, the responsibility to safeguard fairness, transparency and accountability becomes even more critical.

This course provides a structured, globally relevant framework for understanding both the promise and the risks of AI in the judiciary. Participants develop the language, confidence and practical insight needed to engage in digital reform while preserving the integrity of the rule of law.

How to register

• At the top of this page, expand the box to the right and click ‘enrol’

• Review your basket and select ‘continue’ (note there is no cost for this free course, but you will need to create an account)

• Click ‘sign up now’

• You will need to verify your email address to continue. Enter the email address you wish to register for the course with and click ‘send verification code’ 

• Navigate to your inbox, locate the email from Microsoft on behalf of Saïd Business School and copy the verification code.
• Navigate back to the webpage, enter the code and click ‘verify code’

• Enter your chosen password, first name and last name and click ‘create’

• You will now be taken to your profile page. Complete the requested information and click ‘continue’

• On the review your order page, scroll down to review the terms and conditions, once you accept these you can click ‘continue’ 

• You will now see a confirmation screen and receive a confirmation email. If enrolling after the course start date of 27th April, you will receive an email within 15 minutes with details on how to access the course. Follow these instructions to log in and begin the course. If enrolling before the course start date, you will receive this email on the 27th April.

About UNESCO

The AI & the Rule of Law programme at UNESCO equips judges and legal professionals around the globe with the skills they need to uphold justice, the rule of law and human rights in the age of AI. Read more about UNESCO’s work at: https://www.unesco.org/en/artificial-intelligence/rule-law

The “AI, Justice, and Rule of Law” online course has been developed with the generous support of the European Union through the project “Supporting Member States in Implementing UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI through Innovative Tools.”

Contact 

If you have any questions, please contact us at: moocqueries@sbs.ox.ac.uk