ABEOKUTA – The Ogun State Judiciary, on Friday, organized a one-day training on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Magistrates, Judicial Research Officers and other the top management of judiciary in the state.
The training according to the Chief Justice of Ogun State, Mrs. Modupe Dipeolu was to enhance justice delivery within the state judiciary system.
The training which had 77 participants in attendance was noted to be a significant step towards equipping officers of the law with a foundational understanding of AI and its practical applications in judicial workflows.
Welcoming participants to the workshop held at the Ceremonial Hall of the Ogun State Judicial Complex, Abeokuta, the state capital, the Chief Justice of Ogun State, Justice Modupe Dipeolu, said that the judiciary recognized the potential of AI to improve justice delivery, including expediting processes, enhancing legal research, and supporting judicial decision-making.
She explained that the training has been designed to demystify AI, explore its applications, and confront critical questions about its use in the judiciary.
Dipeolu emphasized that training is part of the judiciary’s commitment to judicial excellence in the 21st century, adding that by harnessing AI, the judiciary will deliver timely, efficient, fair, and accessible justice.
She said: “This gathering is not merely a workshop; it is a strategic investment in the future of justice delivery in Ogun State and a testament to our commitment to judicial excellence in the 21st century. We are witnessing a technological revolution reshaping every facet of human endeavour.
“The judiciary, as the bedrock of societal order and the guardian of rights, cannot afford to remain on the sidelines. Our mandate – to deliver timely, efficient, fair, and accessible justice – demands that we harness innovative tools. Artificial Intelligence presents unprecedented opportunities to enhance our capacity to fulfil this sacred duty”.
She acknowledged that AI is not a futuristic fantasy, rather, “a practical toolkit emerging on court desktops, serving as an aid, not a replacement for humans, by providing data-driven insights while preserving judicial discretion”.
“Caseloads are burgeoning. Public expectations for speed and transparency are higher than ever. Legal research grows increasingly complex. In this landscape, AI is not a futuristic fantasy; it is a practical toolkit emerging on our desktops and within our court processes today. It offers the potential to expedite processes, enhance legal research, improve case management, increase accessibility, and support judicial decision-making as an aid, not a replacement by providing data-driven insights while preserving judicial discretion.
“The primary goal of this training is clear: to equip our esteemed Magistrates and invaluable Judicial Research Officers with a foundational, practical understanding of AI relevant to our work. We aim to:
Demystify AI: Move beyond the hype to grasp its core concepts, capabilities, and limitations”, Justice Dipeolu submitted.
The Keynote speaker at the workshop, Dr. Abiodun Odusote, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, disclosed that AI in the judiciary is to improve legal research, judicial reasoning and other areas to further equip judicial officers with the knowledge and skills to harness the AI potential in their work.
Odusote highlighted that part of the benefits of AI in the judiciary is to improve efficiency, reduce backlogs of cases, and improve the speed of judicial processes.
He added that AI can aid in legal research, providing accurate and relevant information to support judicial decisions.
Odusote, however, cautioned that despite the good sides of AI, there are also limitations to it, which he attributed to wrong citations, breach of privacy, and lack of emotion and empathy.
He urged the users to always be wary of its limitations to prevent them from running into trouble, while also calling on them to harness the potential of AI with optimum human supervision.
“The way machines behave, they behave like human beings, they can analyse things, they can even predict. We want to see the relevance of Artificial Intelligence through legal practice: how we can adopt AI in legal research and Judicial reasoning. That is why we are here to explore those things, and as well, we want to explore the benefits, the limitations of AI because as good as AI is it has its limitations. So, we want to exceed these limitations, we want to seek the ethical consideration and legal consideration those are the things we want to examine at this training”.
“After this training, participants should be able to use AI to improve the work they do, and improve their efficiency. Sometimes, it is alleged that we have backlogs of cases in the judiciary, with the deployment of AI, this would be improved and there is efficiency in the work. Those are the benefits. But, we have limitations as well and we need to explore all of that too”, he stated.
While emphasizing the need by the judicial officers to embrace AI, he stresses that wrong use of AI could be embarrassing and puts the users into trouble.
“It can be very embarrassing, I have seen instances where AI gives the wrong citation. We have seen instances where there is breach of privacy, we have seen cases where there is data theft and all of that. You need to be weary about that as its limitations. You also need to know that it is a tool which does not have emotion, it doesn’t have feelings and it doesn’t have empathy. So, you need to know that and you need to come to the realisation that it needs human supervision. There must be human oversight, otherwise it will put the use in big trouble”, Odusote said.
Earlier in her remarks, the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Femi Segun, encouraged the participants to take advantage of the training to improve on the application of AI in the judicial context.
She also told the Magistrates to leverage on the Artificial Intelligence usage for effective delivery, urging them to ask questions whenever the need arises.
