‘Making jurisprudence accessible to all with AI’
Together with partners, GIZ has developed an AI tool that enables broad access to legal knowledge. Emily Watson from GIZ’s team at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights explains in an interview why it can serve as a model for the European Court of Human Rights.
How does the Themis IA AI tool work?
It was developed by GIZ together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The aim is to systematise all court decisions and make them accessible to everyone. This applies in particular to judgements interpreting the articles of the American Convention on Human Rights.
Based on artificial intelligence and language processing, Themis IA automatically recognises the passages in which the court interprets the Convention. The tool organises the results according to legal terms and links them to the ‘Thesaurus of human rights’.
Themis IA shows at a glance what the Court of Justice has said about a particular law – major progress for research, education and practice.
Where does it differ from a ‘normal’ search engine?
Themis IA makes jurisprudence easily accessible and removes technical obstacles. Unlike traditional search engines, the platform recognises the legal context, extracts standards and precedents, and therefore ensures greater consistency in jurisprudence.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights uses Themis IA internally to prepare judgements and externally as a tool for research and training in human rights protection.
There are three regional human rights courts that monitor compliance with human rights at regional level by examining complaints from individuals or states and issuing legal judgements:
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Corte IDH)
- European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
- African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
With the project ‘International Regional Law and Access to Justice in Latin America’, GIZ is promoting human rights and the rule of law in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico – and beyond: on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ has supported the three regional human rights courts in setting up a permanent forum for dialogue.
Contacts: DIRAJus, Viola Boelscher
How is Themis IA used?
With more than 2,000 hits per month, Themis IA is becoming a benchmark for legal innovation in Latin America. It democratises jurisprudence by making it accessible to judges, litigants, academics, students and the general public, while removing the technical obstacles that have previously made legal research difficult. The platform is free of charge and accessible to all via the Court’s website.
Can other courts benefit from this experience?
Definitely. The Inter-American Court is currently the only regional human rights court to have created a digital system comprising three interconnected tools: the jurisprudence database, the human rights thesaurus and Themis IA.
The model is based on international cooperation and ethical AI use, and can serve as a model for other courts, in Europe and in Africa. Themis IA shows how you can use technology responsibly, in the service of an open, accessible and modern justice system.
