AI in the Civil/Administrative Justice System

Protecting Rights Through Litigation and Regulation in Canada and the United States

On Thursday, December 9, 2021 the LCO and the co-editors of Litigating Artificial Intelligence (Emond, 2021) hosted experts from Canada and the United States in a 90-minute panel discussion contrasting the role of litigation and regulation in protecting rights impacted by artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADM) in the public and private realms.

From 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM, two 40-minute panels focused on litigation and regulation. Common themes were explored across both panels and compared experiences in both Canada and the United States.

Moderated by The Honourable Justice Jill Presser, Superior Court of Justice, the litigation panel of speakers included:

• Ren Bucholz, Civil trial and appellate with Paliare Roland
• Gerald Chan, Criminal and administrative litigator with Stockwoods LLP
• Martha Owen, Public and private sector labor litigator with Deats, Durst & Owen (Texas)

Moderated by Nye Thomas, LCO Executive Director, the regulation panel featured:

• Cary Coglianese, Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science, and Director, Penn Program on Regulation, University of Pennsylvania
• Paul Daly, Chair in Administrative Law and Governance, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
• Maya Meideros, Intellectual property lawyer with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

On Tuesday, February 4, 2020 the LCO participated in York University’s Annual Inclusion Day, an event that focuses on the theme of belonging and exploring ways to promote a greater sense of belonging at York. This event is a joint partnership between the LCO, and York University’s Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Inclusion (REI) and the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights Sub-Committees.

From 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM, the LCO hosted a panel at the Helliwell Centre in Osgoode Hall Law School, titled Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights at YorkU: A Panel Discussion on Impacts and Opportunities.

Moderated by Ryan Fritsch, Counsel with the Law Commission of Ontario, the panel of speakers included:

• Insiya Essajee, Counsel, Ontario Human Rights Commission
• Professor Trevor Farrow, Osgoode Hall Law School
• Professor Regina Rini, Department of Philosophy, York University
• Professor Ruth Urner, Department of Engineering & Computer Science, Lassonde School of Engineering

In June 2019, the LCO presented a paper, AI and Automated Decision-Making: lmpact on Access to Justice and Legal Aid, to the 2019 International Legal Aid Group global conference.  The paper discussed the impact of technology on access to justice for low-income communities and presented ideas for how legal aid plans plan can respond.

In May 2019, the LCO partnered with Element AI and Osgoode Hall Law School to present “AI for Lawyers:  A Primer on Artificial Intelligence in Ontario’s Legal System“. This symposium explored how automated decision-making and artificial intelligence are changing the practice of law, litigation, and legal regulation in Ontario’s justice system.  Speakers included Carole Piovesan, Richard Zuroff, and Jill Presser.

In November 2018, the LCO convened a roundtable of subject-matter experts on how best to scope and sequence the LCO’s digital rights law reform projects spanning automated decision-making, consumer protection, and precarious work.

In March 2018, the LCO partnered with the Mozilla Foundation to bring together policy makers, legal scholars, lawyers, technologists, academics and community organizers to discuss a digital rights agenda for Ontario and beyond.

A report on the findings of this event is available here. Among the priority themes identified were:

• transparency and accountability for artificial intelligence and algorithms automatically filter content, price goods, determine eligibility for bail, and make medical recommendations,
• questions about how digital consumer rights can strike a better balance beyond the choice to either opt-in or miss-out, and
• modernizing employment and labour rights for the increasing proportion of Ontarians making a living in the “gig economy” of contingent and precarious work.

The LCO is organizing a series of collaborative, multidisciplinary workshops to discuss AI, automated decision-making and the law.  The workshops bring a wide range of stakeholders to collectively learn about the legal, operational, technological and practical issues and challenges of developing, deploying and regulating these technologies.  LCO workshops include:

• In November and December 2020, the LCO organized a workshop in partnership with the provincial government’s Ontario Digital Service addressing disclosure, bias, due process and public participation in government AI and ADM systems. The LCO’s report, Legal Issues and Government AI Development, identifies major themes and practical insights to assist governments considering this technology.
• In December 2019, the LCO hosted an invitational forum on automated decision-making in the civil and administrative justice system. The event brought together more than 30 policy makers, lawyers, jurists, technologists, academics, and community organizers to share experiences, discuss issues, and consider law reform options.
• In March 2019, the LCO partnered with The Citizen Lab, the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Criminal Lawyers Association to host Canada’s first multidisciplinary forum addressing predictive policing, citizen profiling, and automated bail and sentencing.

The LCO’s AI, ADM and the Justice System project is partially funded by a Law Foundation of Ontario Justice and Technology Grant.