£4.5million for LawtechUK and new AI pilots across courts announced
David Lammy has confirmed £4.5 million in funding for LawtechUK over the next three years, alongside a package of artificial intelligence initiatives aimed at modernising the courts.
Speaking at a Microsoft event in London, the Lord Chancellor said £1.5 million a year would be allocated to LawtechUK to ensure the UK “continues to be at the frontier of lawtech”. The programme, funded by the Ministry of Justice since 2019, has received £7.5 million to date.
LawtechUK’s current funding is due to expire at the end of March. In March 2025, justice minister Sarah Sackman approved a one-year extension worth £1.5 million. The initiative has been run by CodeBase and Legal Geek since 2023. The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will put the management contract out to tender later this year.
Mr Lammy said that 44% of European lawtech start-ups are based in the UK and that the number of domestic lawtech ventures has more than tripled since 2019, when there were around 110.
Alongside the funding commitment, he set out plans to expand the use of AI across the justice system. A pilot programme known as “J-AI” will assist criminal court judges with case listing decisions by analysing available data to identify cases requiring action, estimate hearing times and optimise scheduling. The technology is based on systems used in the NHS.
If successful, the pilot will be rolled out nationally, replacing local spreadsheet-based listing processes with a centralised system.
The Ministry of Justice will also expand the use of case progression officers in every Crown Court centre. These specialist staff have delegated powers to manage procedural matters, including granting extensions and approving live video links, in order to free up judicial time.
Further investment includes more than £50 million to continue the digitisation of the county court and over £20 million for a new digital system for the Business and Property Courts. An additional £12 million has been allocated to the Ministry’s Justice AI Unit.
Mr Lammy said AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot, are already being used to transcribe meetings between probation officers and offenders, with more than 25,000 hours reportedly saved. Pilots are also underway in courts and tribunals to support transcription, note-taking and drafting functions.
He described the programme as part of a broader public-private partnership intended to modernise the justice system.