DIgitalization and aCCEss to justice (DIKE) is an interdisciplinary research group and a formally structured unit of the Faculty of Law and Criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). DIKE is part of the Large Research Group Brussels Research Institute on Development, Governance and Empowerment through Law (BRIDGE) at VUB. The group examines the interaction between law, technology, and society, with a particular focus on improving access to justice and contributing to effective, sustainable, and future-oriented civil justice systems.
DIKE’s research addresses, in particular, the digitalisation of procedures, the automation and algorithmisation of decision-making, and the development of alternative and online dispute resolution mechanisms. In pursuing these research lines, DIKE seeks to advance knowledge on the opportunities and challenges arising from the digital transformation of justice systems at both national and European level.
The group combines fundamental and applied research and adopts interdisciplinary, comparative, and empirical approaches in order to better understand, assess, and shape the evolving relationship between justice and technology. Its work draws not only on legal scholarship, but also on insights from information technology, sociology, psychology, economics, and public policy, thereby fostering research with both academic and societal relevance.
Research lies at the core of DIKE’s mission and supports its ambition to further consolidate its position as a leading centre of expertise in Europe and beyond in the fields of access to justice, digitalisation, and justice innovation. DIKE is currently involved in several ongoing projects, including CREA3, IDEA, TRUST-AI, SPLIT and DigiHeritage, reflecting the breadth of its engagement with digital justice, artificial intelligence, enforcement, transparency, and innovation in legal systems.