The Risks of AI Infringing on Fundamental Rights and Normative Responses : Focusing on the Use of AI in Judicial System and the Right to a Trial

This paper primarily addresses the potential risks of fundamental rights violations arising from the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the judicial system, while exploring normative responses from the perspective of safeguarding the constitutional right to a fair trial. The increased utilization of AI by governmental institutions introduces substantial risks to fundamental rights, due to the inherent characteristics of AI, such as large-scale data usage, opacity, error-proneness, and bias. AI could significantly enhance surveillance mechanisms, thereby compromising human dignity and autonomy, disrupting the free formation and distribution of opinions, and impeding the exercise of fundamental rights essential for democratic governance and the control of power. Moreover, the opacity, potential errors, and biases associated with AI could pose challenges in establishing procedures that ensure legitimate public authority actions and the effective exercise of procedural rights. In the context of judicial activities, AI holds the potential to significantly contribute to the efficiency of public tasks by expediting trial processes and enhancing objectivity and accuracy. However, these benefits must not come at the cost of undermining core principles such as the right to a trial by an independent judge, procedural transparency, and sufficient guarantees of procedural fairness. It is therefore essential to adopt a cautious and gradual approach when expanding the use of AI, ensuring that all applications are firmly grounded in legal frameworks. Furthermore, there is a critical need to enhance the transparency and reliability of AI systems within judicial processes. Adequate safeguards must be put in place to ensure that all parties involved in legal proceedings are given proper notice and opportunities to be heard. In this process, it is imperative to ensure that trials remain fundamentally human-centered, with AI serving only as a supplementary tool rather than a substitute for judicial decision-making. The constitution guarantees the right to a fair trial, underpinned by the independence of judges, who must be free from external interference in both their status and decision-making. This principle should be rigorously upheld, particularly when AI is employed solely to assist judges by providing reference materials during the trial process. In such cases, the legal foundation for the introduction and use of AI systems, as well as the preservation of judicial independence, must be carefully safeguarded, avoiding the reduction of these principles to mere formalities. In conclusion, the integration of AI into judicial activities demands meticulous normative frameworks to prevent violations of human dignity. The deployment of AI should be pursued in a manner that upholds the independence and fairness of judicial processes, ensuring that the constitutional rights of individuals, particularly the right to a fair trial, are fully respected at all times.