Criminal Justice

Across jurisdictions, criminal justice systems are enamored with the evidence-based practices movement. The idea is to utilize the best scientific data to identify and classify individuals based on their potential...

See some of our publications below.

Prof. Melissa Hamilton presents her research exploring forensic AI’s role and potential flaws in criminal risk assessments within justice systems.

The webinar begins with a speech by Dr Alex Leveringhaus (Surrey Politics) on the role of AI technologies in influencing democratic processes; in particular, elections. This is followed by Prof Amelia Hadfield (Surrey Politics) who talks about how our policy-making processes have become more and more data-driven, and how this raises important questions on where to draw the line on AI affecting political decision-making. Then, Dr Adam Wyner (Swansea Computer Science) underlines a common misconception in picturing AI as solely consisting in Bottom-Up machine-learning mechanisms. Instead, the actual picture is one where Top-Down approaches to knowledge engineering are as relevant as ever for dealing with complex datasets. Finally, Mr Miklos Orban (OPL/Explico) explains how there is very little understanding in society as to the purposes, capabilities and implications of AI. In fact, there seems to be a tendency to polarize the discussion in two extremes, none of which captures correctly the promises as well as the concerns involved with AI.

The ProPublica/Northpointe racial bias debate, and the broader issue of algorithmic fairness, present significant dilemmas for criminal justice officials, legal practitioners, data scientists, and policymakers. This...

Today, judges across the U.S. use risk assessment tools like COMPAS in sentencing decisions. In at least 10 states, these tools are a formal part of the sentencing process. Elsewhere, judges informally refer to them for...

According to the official press release that accompanied its launch, chip and PIN is the biggest change to the way that payments are made since decimalisation. The aim of this new system of plastic card payment was to...

This article considers whether the current approach of the criminal law to the unauthorised disclosure of personal data is adequate to deal with situations in which this disclosure has facilitated the commission of some...

Identity theft has emerged in the public consciousness as a pressing and prevalent social problem in recent years and has come to be seen as synonymous with financial fraud. The prototypical construction involves the...