The European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies publishes selected research contributions from the 5th International Workshop on AI for Access to Justice, Dispute Resolution, and Data Access.
The DIKE – Digitalisation and Access to Justice Research Group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is pleased to announce the publication of a new Special Issue of the European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies (EJPLT), dedicated to Artificial Intelligence, Access to Justice, Dispute Resolution, and Legal Data.
Published as Special Issue 2025/2, the volume brings together selected scientific contributions presented at the 5th International Workshop “AI for Access to Justice, Dispute Resolution, and Data Access” (AI4A2J@JURIX2025), held in Turin, Italy, in conjunction with the international JURIX 2025 Conference (9–11 December 2025).
The workshop was jointly promoted by the DIKE Research Group at VUB and the Research Centre in European Private Law (ReCEPL) at the Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa, reinforcing their shared commitment to interdisciplinary research on the digital transformation of justice.
From Digital Assistance to Institutional Legitimacy
The Special Issue, introduced by the editorial “Artificial Intelligence and Access to Justice: From Digital Assistance to Institutional Legitimacy”, examines the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence in legal and judicial systems.
As AI technologies become increasingly integrated into legal services, dispute resolution mechanisms, and judicial processes, their impact extends well beyond administrative efficiency and the automation of routine tasks.
AI is progressively influencing how legal information is produced, interpreted, retrieved, and communicated, raising fundamental questions concerning fairness, transparency, accountability, and the protection of fundamental rights.
Against this background, the volume explores an overarching question: How can AI-driven innovations improve access to justice while preserving human oversight, institutional legitimacy, and the fundamental principles of the rule of law?
The contributions approach this challenge from different legal, technological, and socio-institutional perspectives, emphasising that meaningful digital transformation must place individuals and their needs at the centre of innovation.
Exploring the Future of AI-Enabled Justice
The Special Issue features research addressing several interconnected dimensions of AI and access to justice.
Large Language Models and Epistemic Justice
The contribution “From Textual Simplification to Epistemic Justice: Large Language Models and Digital Dispute Resolution”, by Andrea Filippo Ferraris and Marco Giacalone, explores the potential of language technologies to support more accessible communication and meaningful participation in digital dispute resolution.
Understanding Legal Help Needs
In “What Legal Help Teams and Consumers Actually Do: A Legal Help Task Taxonomy to Accelerate Research and Innovation”, Margaret D. Hagan examines how legal assistance activities can be systematically understood and classified to inform the design of more effective, people-centred legal services.
AI-Supported Labour Justice and the IDEA Chatbot
The paper “How to Move toward AI-supported Labour Justice: The IDEA Chatbot Proposal”, by Marianna Molinari and Marco Giacalone, investigates opportunities for AI-supported legal assistance in labour justice, contributing to the wider discussion on the responsible integration of conversational AI into access-to-justice services.
Cross-Jurisdictional Legal Information Retrieval
The contribution “CaseConnect: Enhancing Access to Justice through Cross-Jurisdictional Legal Case Retrieval”, by Simone Vagnoni, Lou-anne Olivier, Coco Krumsick, and Monica Palmirani, addresses the potential of technological solutions to improve access to relevant legal case information across different jurisdictions.
People-Centred AI Applications: International Perspectives
The Special Issue also includes contributions examining AI-supported justice initiatives in different geographical and institutional contexts.
These include “A Voice-First AI Service for People-Centred Justice in Niger”, by Viviana Brun, Ronald Lenz, and Simón Díaz Pérez, and “Artificial Intelligence and Access to Justice in Chile: Evaluating Its Potential Role in Conciliation Procedures”, by Sergio Andrés Escobar Repullo.
Together, these studies broaden the debate beyond European legal systems and highlight the importance of context-sensitive, inclusive, and accessible technological solutions.
Strengthening International Research Collaboration
The publication represents a further step in the international scientific collaboration promoted by DIKE and its academic partners.
By bringing together researchers working at the intersection of law, Artificial Intelligence, legal informatics, and dispute resolution, the initiative fosters dialogue between theoretical research and practical innovation.
The Special Issue also demonstrates the importance of connecting technological developments with legal and institutional safeguards, particularly as AI-based systems become increasingly relevant to the delivery of legal information and services.
For the DIKE Research Group, this publication contributes to its broader research mission: advancing digitalisation and access to justice through responsible, inclusive, transparent, and human-centred technological innovation.
The volume underscores that the future of digital justice cannot be assessed exclusively through technological performance. It must also be evaluated in terms of accessibility, fairness, accountability, and the capacity of digital systems to strengthen public trust in justice institutions.
Open Access to Research
The Special Issue is published by the European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies, an international, peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal focusing on the relationship between law and emerging technologies.
Through open-access publication, the research contributions are made available to scholars, legal professionals, policymakers, technology developers, and other stakeholders interested in the future of AI-enabled justice.
DIKE warmly congratulates all contributing authors and extends its appreciation to the editors, reviewers, workshop organisers, and academic partners whose work made both the scientific event and the resulting publication possible.
The publication reflects DIKE's continued commitment to building bridges between legal research, technological innovation, and society, contributing to justice systems that are more accessible, inclusive, and responsive to people's needs.
Read the Special Issue
European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies – Special Issue 2025/2
AI for Access to Justice, Dispute Resolution, and Data Access – Selected Contributions from JURIX 2025
Full issue available online: https://universitypress.unisob.na.it/ojs/index.php/ejplt/index