THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON CRIMINAL LAW PRACTICE IN NIGERIA

CONTRIBUTOR: Oby Umeh

INTRODUCTION

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines designed to think, learn, and perform tasks that typically require human cognition, such as problem-solving, decision-making, and language processing.^[1] AI technologies are driven by algorithms, data analysis, and machine learning systems that enable computers to improve their performance over time. The evolution of AI has seen its application expand across various sectors, including healthcare, finance, and transportation, where it has revolutionized operations by automating complex tasks, enhancing accuracy, and improving efficiency. In recent years, AI has also made significant inroads into the legal industry, offering new tools for streamlining legal processes and enhancing the administration of justice.

In legal practice, AI has been gaining prominence globally as a transformative tool that aids in everything from legal research and document review to case prediction and automated drafting of contracts. The use of AI in the legal sector helps to reduce human error, save time, and improve the accuracy of legal work. In criminal law, AI technologies such as predictive analytics, facial recognition, and data mining are being applied to criminal investigations and trials, providing law enforcement and legal professionals with more powerful tools to combat crime and ensure fairer trials.^[2] These advancements are changing the dynamics of how justice is served, offering unprecedented opportunities for improving the criminal justice system.

Globally, AI’s impact on criminal law practice has been profound, with countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and China already integrating AI technologies into their legal systems. These countries have adopted AI-driven tools for risk assessment, decision-making in sentencing, and streamlining criminal investigations.^[3] While these developments present exciting possibilities for legal systems around the world, they also raise critical questions regarding fairness, accountability, and ethical standards, especially concerning issues such as bias and transparency in AI algorithms.

The paper discusses how AI is transforming the practice of criminal law in Nigeria. As one of Africa’s largest and most populous nations, Nigeria faces significant challenges in its criminal justice system, including case backlogs, inefficiency, and limited access to legal resources. AI has the potential to address many of these challenges by enhancing the capacity of law enforcement, improving judicial processes, and promoting more efficient legal services. This paper will explores the current use of AI technologies in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, evaluate their impact on legal practitioners and the overall system, and considers the ethical and regulatory issues that must be addressed to ensure that AI is used responsibly and effectively in the pursuit of justice.

AI TECHNOLOGIES RELEVANCE TO CRIMINAL LAW

AI technologies are becoming increasingly relevant, providing innovative solutions to enhance law enforcement, investigations, and the legal process itself. Several AI technologies are currently shaping the future of criminal law, each offering distinct advantages in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and the ability to handle vast amounts of data. The following AI technologies are particularly important for transforming the criminal justice system:

1. Facial Recognition Technology: Facial recognition technology has gained widespread adoption for use in criminal investigations and law enforcement. By analysing facial features in real-time or from stored databases of photos, AI systems quickly identify suspects, witnesses, and even potential victims. This technology has been instrumental in identifying criminals from CCTV footage, improving the accuracy of investigations, and solving cases that would otherwise remain unsolved.
2. Data Mining and Crime Mapping: In criminal law, data mining tools are employed to analyse crime data, witness testimonies, and police records to identify trends and predict criminal activities. Crime mapping, a subset of data mining, allows law enforcement to visualize crime hotspots, identify patterns of criminal activity, and make better strategic decisions in resource allocation.^[4] In Nigeria, where crime rates can vary significantly across regions, AI-powered crime mapping could prove to be a valuable tool for improving public safety.
3. AI Cybercrime Detection: AI technologies play a critical role in detecting and preventing online criminal activities. Machine learning algorithms can be used to analyse and detect potential cyber threats, such as hacking, data breaches, and identity theft.^[5] In Nigeria, where cybercrime is a growing concern, AI technologies can assist in uncovering complex criminal networks and bring perpetrators to justice.
4. Predictive Analytics: In criminal law, this technology helps law enforcement agencies anticipate and prevent crimes before they occur. By analysing patterns from past criminal events, AI tools can assess the risk of crimes such as burglary, fraud, or even violent offences. Predictive policing has already been employed in various countries to allocate resources efficiently and prevent crime.

While the integration of these AI technologies into Nigeria’s criminal justice system is still in its early stages, their potential to revolutionize criminal investigations, enhance law enforcement efficiency, and improve crime prevention strategies presents a promising future for the nation’s legal landscape.

APPLICATION OF AI IN THE NIGERIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Criminal justice is the term used to describe the process by which justice is administered to those who have committed crimes and those who are victims of crimes. It covers the alleged offense a defendant has committed, the law enforcement personnel who detained such an offender, the legal system that prosecutes and defends the individual, and the punishment the defendant will receive if found guilty of a criminal offence.^[6] In a bid to uphold the rule of law in Nigeria, legal practitioners, law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, and correctional services all collaborate at different stages of the criminal justice processes. The applications of AI are considered under each of the following categories of the Nigerian criminal justice system.

1. Law Enforcement Agencies: Law enforcement agencies like the Nigerian Police Force, EFCC, DSS, and National Intelligence Agency utilise AI in diverse ways for crime prevention, control, investigation, and prosecution. Some of the areas include predictive policing, facial recognition, crime pattern analysis, victim identification, forensic analysis, crowd monitoring, and emergent response for public safety and security. AI’s potential to analyse vast amounts of data in real time has proven invaluable in identifying patterns, predicting criminal behaviour, identifying victims of crimes, and assisting in the detection of cybercrimes and terrorism. ^[7]
2. Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction: In Nigeria, Judges use AI-powered technologies like the Lawpavillion to get case precedent, and for other legal research. More importantly, some judges now use AI technologies to record court proceedings rather than using the usual long handwriting mode of recording court proceedings.

However, in Countries like the United States, Courts make use of AI algorithms to determine whether offenders who are awaiting trial or those who are out on bail and parole pose a flight risk or are likely to commit another crime. In addition, bail amounts in Florida are determined using machine-learning algorithms.^[8]

1. Legal Services (Prosecution and Defence Counsel): Both Prosecting and Defence Counsel make use of AI-powered legal research tools to quickly analyse vast database of legal information and extract relevant Laws, case precedents, and legal opinions within seconds instead of spending countless hours poring over law books.^[9] These AI-powered tools streamline the cumbersome process of document review by identifying relevant information, and organising case files in a very short time, reducing the risk of overlooking crucial evidence.
2. Corrections and Rehabilitation: This involves the post-conviction phases of the criminal justice system. New technologies are being employed in the post-conviction phases, notably in prisons, to enhance and automate security and support prisoner rehabilitation. For instance, in a Chinese prison, an AI network is used to identify inmates and monitor them around the clock, alerting guards to any questionable conduct.^[10]

BENEFITS OF AI USE IN THE NIGERIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The Nigerian criminal justice system faces numerous challenges that hinder its effectiveness. Implementing AI in Nigeria’s criminal justice system has the potential to bring about significant positive changes, improving access to justice, reducing inefficiencies, and enhancing overall security and fairness in the legal process. Some of the opportunities are considered below:

1. Improved Efficiency and Time-saving: As earlier discussed, the ability of AI to automate time-consuming tasks can result in faster and more efficient criminal justice processes in Nigeria when it is rightly deployed by courts, lawyers, and other criminal justice stakeholders. For Instance, the initiative of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, to now permit lawyers to serve court processes and legal documents electronically alongside the traditional manual method is a welcome development.^[11]
2. Investigative Support: AI-powered crime prediction models help law enforcement agencies in Nigeria identify potential crime hotspots and patterns, especially for cybercrime offences enabling proactive crime prevention strategies. AI tools can aid investigators in analysing digital evidence, identifying patterns, and connecting disparate pieces of information to solve complex cases. AI can help investigators analyse case data and evidence early in the legal process, facilitating faster resolution and reducing the caseload backlog. This will greatly improve the efficiency of prosecutors and law enforcement agencies like the Nigerian Police Force.

CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS IN APPLICATION OF AI

As much as the application of AI technology in the Nigerian Criminal justice system offers several opportunities, its uses may also occasion some demerits. These challenges posed by AI-driven criminal justice system include:

1. Lack of Legal Framework: The rapid advancement of AI technology has outpaced the development of comprehensive legal frameworks to regulate its use in the criminal justice system, creating uncertainty and challenges in its implementation across the world. The use of AI in law enforcement necessitates a high degree of accountability, justice, and openness in order to prevent discrimination and the violation of basic rights. Nigeria presently lacks a thorough regulatory or policy framework for AI use.
2. Cost and Resource Constraints: Adopting AI technology requires significant financial investments and skilled personnel, which might pose challenges for resource-constrained jurisdictions. For instance, companies using AI services offered by a third party on a unique platform created by a group of internal or external data scientists can spend anywhere from $4,000 to $300,000 in setting up and running the systems.
3. Lack of Technical Expertise and Overreliance on Technology: Over-reliance on AI systems without adequate human oversight can lead to the neglect of contextual factors and individual circumstances crucial for just and fair decision-making. When it comes to working with an AI system, there is a theoretical belief that the choices made by a person in collaboration with the AI system would be better than those made by either party individually. It has been observed that people often rely too heavily on the advice of AI systems, even when it is incorrect. For instance, two New York attorneys were fined $5000 for presenting fabricated cases that were generated using ChatGPT, an AI chatbot.^[12]

CONCLUSION

The application of AI in criminal justice is continuously evolving, offering exciting opportunities to improve fairness, efficiency, and decision-making processes. While there have been notable advancements in many countries, the criminal justice sector, particularly in Nigeria, still faces significant challenges that impede its full potential. To harness the transformative power of AI, it will be essential to address these obstacles through careful policy development, infrastructural improvements, and capacity building. Only through such efforts can AI be effectively integrated into the system to foster greater accountability, transparency, and justice.

REFERENCE

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5. Ibid ↑
6. Stephanie Johnson, ‘Criminal Justice & Criminology: What is criminal justice? and What is criminology?’ (2023, Hein online) https://libguides.heinonline.org/criminal-justice-andcriminology ↑
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