On 31 July, the UK Ministry of Justice published an AI Action Plan for Justice – a landmark strategy to integrate artificial intelligence across the justice system in England and Wales.
The plan is designed to deliver “faster, fairer and more accessible justice” while maintaining public trust, protecting human rights, and preserving judicial independence. The three-year programme is built around three priorities: strengthening foundations through improved leadership, governance, ethics, data quality and infrastructure; embedding AI across justice services via a “Scan, Pilot, Scale” model, targeting applications such as secure AI assistants for staff, citizen-facing tools to improve access to justice, and predictive models to support rehabilitation and capacity management; and investing in people and partners by building AI capability across the Ministry’s 95,000-strong workforce, attracting technical talent, and working with regulators and the legal sector to encourage responsible adoption.
The plan commits to rolling out enterprise-grade AI tools by the end of 2025, expanding pilots in transcription, search and scheduling, and strengthening partnerships with innovators in the UK’s £37 billion legal services sector.
In a statement issued to mark the launch, the Ministry of Justice emphasised that by 2028, AI will be “integral to our way of working” – enabling personalised services, improving decision-making, and equipping the justice system to respond to emerging challenges, including AI-enabled crime.