Ignorantia juris non excusat – the future of principles in the age of artificial intelligence

In his speech during the Gauhati High Court’s Platinum Jubilee on April 14, the Indian Prime Minister emphasized the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to open up laws to the public and bring “ease of justice.” bottom. He confirmed that this is part of the scope of Phase 3 of the ecourts mission, which is being considered in this year’s budget.

This raises important questions about AI’s potential in changing the standards of perception of law and its impact on the general public.

The vast and complex legal system makes it impossible for even the most knowledgeable judges, lawyers and legal scholars, let alone ordinary people, to know it all. But our legal system is based on the premise, expressed in a Latin maxim, that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Ignorantia juris non excusat – A person who breaks the law does not have the right to a defense of ignorance of the law. While it is impossible for everyone to know all laws, this presumption has been viewed as a necessary legal fiction to maintain the rule of law.

Can AI, especially large language model AI, change this perception standard? Is it more than just a theoretical standard imposed on everyone?

The proliferation of large-scale language model AI has the potential to change the basic level of legal awareness that one can realistically expect from a person of ordinary ability. These AI models can parse vast legal systems and provide comprehensive information relevant to a particular situation.

Smartphone penetration in India is said to be 54% and is projected to reach 96% by 2040. We can imagine a future where the average person would have legal standing in any situation or transaction they find themselves in. Engage and use that information to determine course of action. Having answers to common legal questions at your fingertips through AI-powered applications could change the standard of normal legal awareness.

This can have far-reaching implications for how people perceive and understand the law.

More complex and important actions require the support of human legal experts (possibly AI-assisted as well). Routine transactions that do not justify the time and expense of hiring a lawyer can be competently handled by the layman involved with the help of AI.

One of the major challenges in making law accessible to the general public is the language barrier. Judgments and legal documents are often written in complex legal language, which can be difficult for lay people, especially those who do not speak English, to understand. Large-scale language model AI has the potential to fill this gap by analyzing legal documents and providing information in a more understandable language. This means that the law must be published in a mode that AI can access and in a format that AI can parse.

If the legal awareness of the entire nation increases significantly, we may see a situation where the assumed legal awareness approaches the reality.

In addition, the proliferation of AI-powered legal assistance raises questions about laws, regulations, and standards for notification of rules when the criteria for legal awareness are to be interpreted more strictly. The laws are currently published on standard websites such as indiacode.nic.in, but do not always contain the notices and regulations issued under each article. Ensuring that all relevant legal information, including notices and regulations, is readily available and updated on such portals by governments at central and state levels is AI-assisted legal awareness. important in the era of

The interaction between the Supreme Court’s e-SCR project and the compilation of statutes will also bring case law into consideration. Needless to say, judgments of high courts and tribunals must also be included in such exercises.

Large Language Model AI is an aggregator of material already available. If amended or repealed laws are present in the statute book without clearly indicating their status, incorrect information may be incorporated into AI-generated content. The same is true for judgments that are dismissed or set aside. It is important that the published body of law be free of noise that could impair the understanding of the law. The work of removing 3500 outdated and redundant laws from the statutes is a good step in this direction.

To make law more accessible and leverage the potential of Large Language Model AI to increase legal awareness, the following steps should be taken:

1. Laws, including notices and regulations, should be made available on standard websites such as indiacode.nic.in, and similar portals should be opened and maintained by all state governments.

2. Portals should be updated regularly to reflect deprecations, readings, or developments.

3. Governments at the central and state levels are responsible for keeping such portals updated with the latest legal information and to present legal documents in a language easily understood by the general public, including non-English speakers. need to do it.

4. Efforts should be made to repeal and remove old and redundant laws from the legal books. This helps reduce noise and ensure a clear understanding of applicable laws.

5. Judgments should be published in a readable form in conjunction with relevant legislation.

Ignorance of the law is no longer an excuse, but a sad reality.

Abdul Nazeer, a former Supreme Court Justice and current governor of Andhra Pradesh, said docket exclusion is as big a problem as docket explosion. Large parts of the country are unaware of their rights under the law and therefore unable to take advantage of available legal remedies. It was difficult. But the advent of large-scale language model AI, which can scan large legal systems and immediately provide information about the legality of any action, makes this task much easier. The challenge now is to ensure that the public knows how to use such tools to obtain authentic legal information.

This could boost efforts toward a future where pleas of ignorance are just excuses.

Vikram Hegde is an attorney of record at the Supreme Court of India.