Agent-based Criminal Court Electronic Support Systems (ACCESS)
In today's society information is inherently distributed across
different physical locations and systems (both human and
automated). More and more information is becoming available digitally,
making it possible for information to be sought, structured, and
processed electronically. This takes place in open systems (like the
internet), but also in closed systems (like intranets) and
combinations. In pilot projects in the criminal courts of Rotterdam
and Amsterdam, for example, criminal files are being made available in
digital format: the Digital Dossier. As a result
the number of options judges and public prosecutors have to access,
combine and process information has increased significantly. Even
though (legal) provisions, like in the Wetboek van Strafvordering are
decisive with respect to which sources can be accessed (e.g.
Justitieel Documentatiesysteem, local council's information systems),
and by whom, they do not necessarily specify how.
The Digital Dossier depends on -and interacts with- data from a large
number of distributed databases.
Software agents are autonomous entities that can access and
process digital information autonomously, (e.g. to support human users
on the basis of their individual characteristics and preferences).
Agents are not necessarily stationed at one location, they may migrate
to other systems to collect and process information when necessary.
(The reasons for migration may vary from limited bandwidth to security
restrictions). As pro-active entities agents can process information
directly for the human user for whom they are working, or for other
agents with whom they have been designed to collaborate.
Electronic agents can help to automate the judicial work
processes. They can be used in the context of the digital dossier to
acquire, pre-process and present information to both judges and the
public prosecutor, decreasing the need for these parties, and their
staff, to do this themselves. This project aims to answer the question
whether agents can be used to gather the information necessary for
composing a legal court decision, and process it in such a way that it
can be used as the basis for that decision. It is clear that in all
cases the sources need to be accountable and available. In general,
finding information is one problem, judging its integrity with respect
to its source and its provider, is another. Knowing when and how to
present the information is a third. The last two elements are the
main focus of this project using agent technology. The integrity of
the agents themselves then becomes another important element in this
context. Security is of utmost importance.
Newsflashes
Participating Research Groups
|
|
Intelligent Interactive Distributed Systems Group, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
|
Computer Law Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
|
Acknowledgement
The ACCESS project is funded by the NWO TOKEN program.
|
The NLnet Foundation also funds part of the research of this project.
|
