A NEW study will pave the way for victims to benefit from greater transparency and improved access to justice by exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can provide court transcripts faster and at lower cost, as part of efforts to modernise the justice system.
AI experts welcomed the research, saying it could be a “genuine win” — assuming there is the necessary level of human oversight “because the accuracy threshold for a criminal court transcript isn’t 95%, it’s 100%”. Another added that the “accountability architecture needs to be built with equal rigour”.
New research, led by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), will explore how AI can be used to transcribe court hearings and open the door to faster, cheaper access to court records for victims and others who need them.
Costly court transcript fees have meant that victims have had to fork out hundreds — and in some cases thousands of pounds — to access exactly what was said in court to help provide answers and closure.
The findings have the potential to significantly reduce these fees and mark another step towards greater transparency, making criminal court transcripts far easier to obtain for those who need them most.
The measures, HMCTS says, form part of the government’s work to improve the justice system through investment, reform and modernisation to deliver swifter and fairer justice for victims.
Boost transparency
Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC, said: “Victims show immense courage in coming to court, delivering their testimonies and looking their perpetrators in the eye. That’s why it is only right they process what happened in their case in their own time and on their own terms.
“By deploying AI in the courtroom, we can boost transparency and access to justice, building a modernised system that victims can rely on.”
For victims, facing a perpetrator in court can be deeply distressing. Access to transcripts can provide vital clarity and reassurance, letting them understand what happened during their case in their own time.
Currently, transcripts of Crown Court proceedings are produced by contracted providers. The new study will explore how the Ministry of Justice’s in-house AI, Justice Transcribe, could meet required accuracy standards while reducing transcription time and costs.
Access to justice
The findings will inform nationwide plans to upgrade, modernise and open up the court system and increase access to justice in the digital age.
The government recently announced that victims whose cases are going through the Crown Court will have access to free transcripts of judges’ sentencing remarks, upon request, from Spring 2027, as part of a major boost to deliver swifter access to justice.
This announcement comes as both the Victims and Courts Bill and Courts and Tribunals Bill progress through parliament and the government delivers on its plan to restore the justice system.
Charlotte Schreurs, survivor and founder of the Open Justice For All campaign, said: “Having long called for transcripts to be made easily and freely accessible for victims through my Open Justice For All campaign – I welcome AI being deployed in courtrooms to make this happen.
“Court transcripts are imperative for victims in the healing process – to understand what was said and to be able to move on, but it also brings accountability and transparency of the courts.”
Long overdue
Colette Mason, an AI Consultant at London-based Clever Clogs AI, welcomed the research but said human oversight remains essential: “Cheaper court transcripts for victims is long overdue. Nobody in clear distress should pay exorbitant fees to read what happened in their own case.
“But courtrooms aren’t carefully managed podcast studios. They’re challenging environments without dedicated acoustics management, overlapping voices, strong accents, nervous witnesses with shaky voices, and complex terminology where a single misheard word can change the entire meaning of evidence.
“The press release confirms this is still a study into whether Justice Transcribe can meet ‘required accuracy standards’.
“That matters because the accuracy threshold for a criminal court transcript isn’t 95%, it’s 100%. Anything less creates a record that misrepresents what was said under oath.
“Who checks the AI output before it becomes the official record? If there’s no human review built into the process, we swapped the cost problem for added risk and critical error. Get the oversight right and this is a genuine win.”
Downstream reliance
Katrina Young, Chief Technology Officer and Ethical AI Strategist at KYC Digital, warned that accuracy standards are key: “Using AI to transcribe Crown Court proceedings addresses a cost barrier that has quietly denied victims access to their own legal record for years. That is the straightforward case. The harder one is what happens when the transcript is wrong.
“Court audio is not clean. There are overlapping voices, legal terminology, accented speech, and procedural language that generic transcription models handle inconsistently. An error rate acceptable in a business meeting is not acceptable in a sentencing record.
“The risk that is not being named is downstream reliance. If AI-generated transcripts become the default record without robust human review at the point of production, errors migrate silently into appeals, legal filings and victim support processes. By the time they surface, the damage is already done.
“Accuracy standards must be defined, published and independently verified before this moves to scale. The accountability architecture needs to be built with equal rigour.”
