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First there was e-mail, then there was e-commerce, now prepare for e-justice.
Three judges in Brazil have been testing "artificial intelligence" software called the Electronic Judge. Let me set the scene for you: a prang occurs between two vehicles at a set of traffic lights. Almost before either driver has a chance to shake a fist at the other, a van appears and out jumps ajudge and court clerk clutching the laptop that runs the e-judge programme.
Multiple-choice questions such as "Did the driver stop at a red light? or "Had the driver been drinking alcohol above the legal limit?" are keyed in and a judgement is instantly issued.
The programme was developed by Judge Pedro Valls Feu Rosa of the Espirito Santo's Supreme Court of Appeals, but it could be some time before an e-judge is dispensing justice on British roads. "It would have to satisfy the authorities that it was absolutely foolproof first," says a spokesman for the Lord Chancellor's office.