Focus on artificial intelligence: Media Law Days 2025 in Cottbus

How can justice, the rule of law and data protection be guaranteed when artificial intelligence is used in court proceedings? Advancing digitalisation is fundamentally changing the justice system - from the introduction of electronic files and automated analysis processes to AI-supported judicial decision-making processes. "Strategies for the legally compliant implementation of AI in companies and the judiciary are necessary to ensure compliance with fundamental rights, data protection and fairness and to strengthen trust in automated decision-making processes - although it often remains unclear what can actually be considered 'fair'," says Eric Witte, teaching and research fellow at the Centre for Legal and Administrative Sciences (ZfRV) and certified expert in the psychological management of group processes.

By August 2026, the EU member states must gradually implement the regulation on artificial intelligence, known as the AI Act. The regulation is intended to make the use of AI safer and aims to categorise applications according to their risk potential and create correspondingly strict requirements for particularly high-risk systems. The use of artificial intelligence is having an increasing impact on the way courts work. This is illustrated by systems such as the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS) used in the USA. The risk assessment tool, which is used in the criminal justice system in the USA, shows that AI-supported applications can speed up processes, but at the same time the risk of discrimination and a lack of transparency is very high. "The use of COMPAS, especially as observed in the Loomis v. State of Wisconsin case, is considered unthinkable in Germany," says Witte. "This is incompatible with the findings of justice research."

"People and their justice must be even more the central guiding principle of the rule of law," adds the academic. "This includes fair results, transparent and comprehensible decision-making processes, respectful communication and the involvement of all parties. Experienced injustice damages acceptance of the institutions and can cause lasting damage to trust in the (constitutional) state and even eliminate it completely."

About the Cottbus Media Law Days

The Cottbus Media Law Days are part of the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg's extra-occupational Master's programme "Business Law for Technology Companies (M.B.L.)". The M.B.L. study programme is aimed at industrial engineers, lawyers and all interested humanities graduates with professional experience who are involved in advising or solving legal issues in technology companies. Enrolment is possible in the summer and winter semesters.