From Editors: Artificial Intelligence and Law in a World of Accelerating Change

This editorial introduction to the AJEE Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence and Law situates current technological developments within a rapidly evolving global environment where the growing use of digital and algorithmic tools intersects with fundamental rights, public governance, and the core functions of justice systems. The text highlights how artificial intelligence (AI) challenges long-standing legal assumptions (about accountability, procedural fairness, and institutional design), while simultaneously offering new opportunities for efficiency, innovation, and access to justice. The contributions to this Special Issue examine these questions across diverse jurisdictions: from Kazakhstan’s emerging AI regulatory framework and the complexities of AI-assisted adjudication to civil-law challenges in Arab legal systems, criminal justice developments in Germany and Ukraine, and evolving digital rights governance in Saudi Arabia. Together, these works underscore that the legal and institutional questions raised by AI cannot be confined to any single discipline or national setting; instead, they require an interdisciplinary, comparative, and human-rights-centred approach attuned to local realities and global standards. This Introduction invites scholars and practitioners to reflect on the conditions under which AI can strengthen, rather than erode, the rule of law and public trust.