Could 'robot' prosecutors become common in Chinese legal cases?

'Case management' robots have been a common sight in Procuratorates in Nanjing, Suzhou and Huaian since September 2016.

A 'case management' robot is unveiled to the public at a news conference. [Photo:The Beijing News]

The 'Intelligent Assistant Systems' are being used to review cases, check facts, and even offer sentencing opinions. They can also generate arrest warrants and approve indictments.

So far, they've only been used in drink driving and other simple cases, saving prosecutors a huge amount of time, reports Beijing News.

Public opinion is mixed. Some say artificial intelligence, or AI, isn't sufficiently advanced to avoid making mistakes. One error of judgement could have serious consequence and so relying on robots in the judicial field would be a mistake.

On the other hand, many are positive about such case management robots, believing that they can improve efficiency, cutting the time taken to handle simple cases by half.

On average, every prosecutor in Zhangjiagang municipality procuratorate handles 145 cases each year, with half their time taken up by reviewing evidence. Such AI assistants could substantially lighten their load, says Beijing News.

Officials also point out that, the robots spotted 7420 doubtful points in case handling during the piloting, highlighting their 100% accuracy. They point out however that robots only do basic work at present, and that they don't get involved in subjective judgements.