European project analyses the impact of the use of artificial intelligence on fundamental rights
The main objective of the research team is to develop guidelines for the use of AI that guarantee data protection and non-discrimination, particularly in the judicial, administrative, health and consumer sectors.
Translation by Diana Taborda
The University of Coimbra is one of eleven European institutions working on the Justice, Fundamental Rights and Artificial Intelligence (JuLIA) research project, which will analyse the impact of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by courts and other public and private institutions on fundamental rights. The main objective of the consortium is to develop guidelines for the use of AI that guarantee data protection and non-discrimination, particularly in the judicial, administrative, health and consumer sectors.
The draft law to regulate the use of AI in the European Union (EU AI Act), approved in a plenary session in June this year, is currently being discussed by all Member States and will inevitably lead to developments in the EU legal framework in the field of artificial intelligence. In this context, JuLIA "wants to understand what the use of automated decisions entails for the lives of citizens, consumers and society in general, in order to anticipate possible problems and legal issues," explains Sandra Passinhas, coordinator of the project in Portugal and professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Coimbra (FDUC).
“The compatibility of automated decision-making and artificial intelligence with fundamental rights is one of the most relevant issues of the current technological revolution. “There is not yet a clear balance between the efficiency and potential social benefits of these technologies and respect for general principles and fundamental rights, such as non-discrimination, protection of personal data, access to justice and the autonomy of judges". Accordingly, "one of the key objectives of the project is to provide judges and lawyers with a comprehensive overview of EU and Member State case law on AI, to strengthen judicial dialogue between EU courts and to promote guidelines that guarantee respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law," claims Sandra Passinhas.
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The UC professor further explains that this need to support judges arises because "in the near future, courts will have to strike a balance in very different contexts: from the assessment of evidence in court cases, to judicial control of public administration decisions, and even liability proceedings related to the use of automated decision-making in the medical sector"
Funded by the European Commission with approximately €950,000, the project will run until January 2026 and is coordinated by Pompeu Fabra University, bringing together institutions from Bulgaria (LIBRe Foundation), Spain (General Council of the Judiciary and Pompeu Fabra University), France (University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), Italy (Bruno Kessler Foundation, Italian School of Magistrates and University of Trento), the Netherlands (Dutch National School of Magistrates and University of Groningen), Poland (Polish Institute of Legal Studies of the Academy of Sciences) and Portugal (University of Coimbra). At the UC, the project will also involve FDUC professor Paulo Mota Pinto and Ana Elisabete Ferreira, a researcher at the Centre for Biomedical Law and the Legal Institute.
More information about JuLIA is available at www.julia-project.eu/.