The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is to examine the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its work as it struggles to deal with rapidly increasing caseloads.
There has been a “marked increase” in demands on the service across all criminal court jurisdictions along with an increase in the volume of digital data in criminal prosecutions, the DPP Catherine Pierse stated in the agency’s 2025-2027 strategy statement.
“Keeping pace with this increased activity has necessitated considerable commitment by my staff, our prosecution counsel and state solicitors, as well as many others across the criminal justice system.”
She said there is a need to “embrace new technologies” as part of the office’s future strategy.
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The DPP committed to explore the potential efficiencies of new technology, including AI, “while at the same time addressing the risks that new technologies can bring.”
It described an “upsurge” in court activity which “continues to represent real challenges”.
Since 2019, the number of court dates before the Central Criminal Court, which hears cases of rape and murder, have increased by 149 per cent. During the same period there has been a 24 per cent increase in the number of sitting dates in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Courts.
Furthermore, prosecution files are becoming “more complex and specialised” and are increasingly reliant on international cooperation, the DPP stated.
The amount of evidence gathered by gardaí during investigations has increased dramatically, mostly driven by the growth in digital data such as social media activity and CCTV.
The volume of footage from body-worn cameras, which are gradually being issued to all frontline gardaí, is also contributing to this trend, the DPP said.
This evidence “continues to transform the volume and nature of material that must be assessed when deciding whether to prosecute, reviewed for relevance at the disclosure stage, and ultimately presented at trials.”
Ensuring compliance with its responsibility to disclose all evidence to defendants “has become increasingly resource intensive,” the DPP said.
“Given the volumes of digital data involved, it is becoming progressively more difficult to balance the legal obligation to identify and disclose relevant or potentially relevant information with the duty to protect privacy.
“There continues to be a need for appropriate ICT systems paired with strong governance to assist with the analysis and management of data relevant to cases.”
AI has been used in other jurisdictions as a tool to assess evidence during disclosure and discovery processes, although usually in civil cases.
The technology is not without controversy, however. Last month a Australian lawyer was referred to a legal complaints commission for using ChatGPT to write their court filings.
It was later discovered that the AI programme had cited cases which did not exist.
