The Constitutional Court of Colombia pronounces on the use of generative artificial intelligence tools in judicial tutela proceedings

The Constitutional Court, through Ruling T-323 of 2024, has pronounced for the first time, regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools for decision making in tutela proceedings (a guardianship action – review of judicial decision concerning the protection of constitutional rights). This, after a second-instance judge used of a Generative AI tool to render a decision.

The analysis carried out by the Court was mainly composed of two parts: i) to analyze the use given by the judge to the Artificial Intelligence tool to resolve the specific case; ii) to analyze in a general manner, the use of Generative AI tools in the administration of justice.

Regarding the specific case, it focused on determining whether the decision adopted by the judge violated the fundamental right to due process, whether the decision was made by the judge, and whether it was duly motivated.

The Court concluded that: 

1. In the specific case, there was no violation of the right to due process, since the Generative Artificial Intelligence tool was not used to replace the judge's function in the justice administration but was used after the decision had been made and substantiated. Therefore, the validity of the decision was not questioned. 

2. Although the principle of privacy was respected by properly handling the personal data of the involved parties, including a minor, the required principles of transparency and accountability were not fully adhered to. 

In a second step, the Court ruled on the use of Artificial Intelligence tools in a jurisdictional system and in the exercise of the administration of justice:

1. It considered that it is necessary to establish guiding criteria, guides, or guidelines on the use of AI tools by judges in the administration of justice in order to respect fundamental rights and safeguard the constitutional guarantees of the system´s users.

2. Officials and employees of the Judicial Branch must be bound by the principles of transparency, accountability, privacy, non-substitution of human rationality, seriousness and verification, risk prevention, equality and equity, human control, ethical regulation, adaptation to good practices and collective standards, continuous monitoring and adaptation, and suitability.

3. The Superior Council of the Judiciary is in charge of preparing a guide for the implementation of generative AI in the Judicial Branch, as well as the generation of training spaces for the learning of basic knowledge on the use of AI in the judicial context.

In this decision, the Constitutional Court establishes a precedent for the use of technological tools and artificial intelligence in the administration of justice.

The Court emphasizes the responsible use of these tools and stresses the importance of permanently guaranteeing the fundamental rights of the system's users, as well as upholding judicial autonomy as indispensable guarantees of the Social State of Law and democracy.