Transparency, Rule of Law, Understanding, and Safety in AI for Criminal Justice

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As artificial intelligence (AI) permeates various sectors, its influence on the criminal justice system grows, particularly in the investigation and adjudication of crimes. To ensure effective law enforcement, the EU is funding AI literacy initiatives, enhancing digital forensic capabilities, and promoting fair judicial decision-making. TRUST-AI supports these efforts by equipping legal professionals with tools and knowledge to navigate AI complexities in criminal justice. To harness the full potential of AI in supporting their work, justice professionals must understand and mitigate the limitations of those systems and the ensuing challenges for the provision of justice and protection of fundamental rights. Additionally, as AI increasingly contributes to hate-motivated crime, justice professionals need to comprehend AI's impact on investigating and adjudicating crimes involving technology, including establishing elements of crimes such as actus reus and mens rea and collection and preservation of electronic evidence. TRUST-AI is a collaborative specialized judicial training project by a consortium of world-leading research and training institutes, as well as national judicial training institutions, from five EU Member States and two candidate countries. It offers both online and in-person training to enhance judicial capacity in utilizing AI for criminal investigations and trials, while safeguarding fundamental rights. The project's emphasis is on practical and sustainable capacity strengthening for justice professionals. Consortium members have a long-standing record of providing specialized judicial training and will integrate the latest developments in this fast-evolving field through an advanced research work package. Another key aspect is sustainability, which will be achieved by empowering national judicial training institutions to continue delivering training after the project's conclusion, including through TOT and robust knowledge management.