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Stories by Steve Aya
LawPavilion, a Nigerian legal technology company, has unveiled a groundbreaking, domain-specific Artificial Intelligence solution designed exclusively to support Nigerian Judges in delivering faster and equitable justice. The innovation was introduced at the recently concluded All Nigeria Judges Conference, held at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Abuja, marking a major milestone in the digital transformation of the justice system in Nigeria.
In a compelling presentation that captured the attention of the Judicial Officers from across the nation, Mr Ope Olugasa, Managing Director of LawPavilion, introduced LawPavilion AI (Judges’ Corner) as a transformative solution to the perennial backlog of cases challenging the Nigerian judicial system. “Behind each case number is a human story, a widow waiting for her inheritance, a business owner seeking redress, a citizen denied their constitutional rights”, Olugasa stated.
He said: “The solution to this crisis is already here. Artificial Intelligence is not the future of judicial practice, it is the present, and it is our opportunity to eliminate backlogs, if we embrace it”.
Olugasa assured the Judicial officers in attendance that, unlike general-purpose AI systems that have raised concerns about accuracy, LawPavilion AI is specifically trained on a verified database of Nigerian Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions, Nigerian laws, regulations, and civil procedure rules. This specialised training ensures the system never “hallucinates” or fabricates non-existent cases, a critical distinction that addresses one of the primary concerns about AI in judicial practice. He explained further that, the platform features robust data protection mechanisms, with all uploaded documents automatically anonymised to protect the privacy and confidentiality of sensitive case information.
Olugasa noted that at the heart of LawPavilion AI’s capability is its sophisticated “Draft Judgement” feature, which can harmonise multiple final written addresses from Counsel, pleadings, witness statements, exhibits, and other evidence. The LawPavilion AI Platform provides Judges with:- Comprehensive summaries of case materials, Intelligent assessment and evaluation of evidence, Suggested issues for determination, Legal opinions supported by verifiable Nigerian cases, Reasoning and justifications linked to precedents that can be verified directly on the platform “This is not about replacing Judges, it is about empowering them”, Olugasa emphasised. “AI will handle the laborious, time-consuming tasks of document review and legal research, freeing our Judges to do what only humans can do: listen with empathy, understand nuanced arguments, weigh moral considerations, and deliver justice with wisdom and fairness.”
LawPavilion projects that comprehensive AI implementation could realistically reduce Nigeria’s case backlog by 30-40% within three years, clearing over 600,000 cases and preventing future accumulation.
Anticipating concerns about AI adoption, Mr Olugasa systematically addressed three primary fears: On AI Hallucination, he explained how the company deployed “domain-specific, verifiable AI with a ‘human-in-the-loop’ system where although, every output is expected to still be reviewed by the Judges, our AI is trained to only cite actual Nigerian cases that can be verified on our platforms, no black boxes, only transparent, explainable reasoning”.
Addressing the issue of Privacy and Confidentiality: he maintained that “Our system employs state-of-the-art encryption and data anonymisation techniques, ensuring full compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act”.
Replacement of Judges: “AI cannot, and should never replace Judges. Justice requires judgement, not just logic. It requires moral reasoning, empathy, and discretion, fundamentally human functions. Our Constitution vests judicial power in human beings, and the final gavel will always be in a human hand”.
