More and more judgments are based on wiki articles

• The MIT study confirms the trend in Ireland, which judges use to underpin their own arguments

Cambridge, Dublin, 1. August 2022

#Judges in #Ireland look more to #online “encyclopedia” #Wikipedia for precedents to research for their judgments than to legal services. This conclusion was reached by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. #Experts find training problematic. There is no guarantee of 100 percent accuracy.

Evidence of direct # quotes

According to #MIT scientists, an Irish court ruling based on this could prove that if a similar legal practice had a corresponding #Wikipedia page, the number of citations increased by more than 20 percent. Above all, judges in low-profile cases are said to rely more on Wikipedia articles — especially if # judges see their own arguments as underpinning them.

#Researchers were even able to find matching terms from #Wikipedia articles in the judgments. According to research leader Neil Thompson, there is a causal relationship between articles and citations. #Experts see the reason for the growing popularity of research in fast search results, especially on the Judges platform. On the other hand, the use of legal specialist services is often more difficult and time-consuming.