AI-Driven Innovations at the Brazilian Judiciary

With a current backlog of 78 million lawsuits, the Brazilian judicial system operates with substantial challenges in case flow management and a lack of resources to meet this demand. Drastic solutions are needed to improve efficiency. In order to address these issues, the Brazilian National Council of Justice has enabled the 92 courts it administratively oversees to develop their own AI models, resulting in a seemingly uncoordinated algorithmic universe in the judicial system. In partnership with the Institute for Technology and Society (ITS) – a non-profit research institute based in Rio de Janeiro – the SIPA Capstone team designed a collaborative governance structure to strategically integrate all AI initiatives in the Brazilian judiciary. In order to do so, the proposed model has three objectives: 

• Create an open-ended framework to map and categorize the different AI tools already developed in the Brazilian Judiciary, including a comparative study and a model for integration and standardization. 
• Design an AI collaborative Governance structure that will allow the Courts to achieve greater collaboration and cooperation, and that works jointly with the Electronic Judicial Process (PJe) and its auxiliary tools. 
• Conduct an analysis of the principles, processes, incentives and internal regulations that govern the operation of the PJe Innovation Lab, including a proposal for perfecting and expanding the current management model according to international best practices.  

In order to substantiate the project objectives, the Capstone team interviewed a sample of experts in the field, conducted a literature overview of AI and electronic processing systems in the Brazilian Judiciary, and developed a comparative analysis on both national and international case studies. After careful consideration, the Capstone team compiled a list of strategies and recommendations for the CNJ, which should be implemented according to its capacity.