Justice reform starts with people, not technology

Attending the 2026 Modernising Criminal Justice conference reinforced something I've long believed - that justice is fundamentally about people. Police officers, judges, prison and probation staff doing difficult jobs every day. Victims whose lives can be changed in an instant. And offenders who, with the right support, can turn their lives around.

The information problem at the heart of justice

One theme that came through strongly across the day's discussions is that victims, offenders and justice professionals alike need the right information at the right time. That means thinking about justice as an end-to-end journey, not a collection of separate institutions, and ensuring data follows that journey rather than stopping at organisational boundaries.

Too often, the opposite is true. Before a probation officer can have the kind of conversation that could genuinely change a life, they must first navigate a fragmented landscape of systems, records and sources. Valuable time goes on administration rather than engagement. Skilled practitioners - many of whom joined the service to help people turn their lives around - find themselves acting as data gatherers instead.

Reducing that burden is critical to enabling frontline professionals to focus on the work only humans can do.

AI as an enabler, not a replacement

AI has a significant role to play here. It can surface information, reduce administrative load and summarise interactions, freeing professionals to focus on people rather than processes.

A widely discussed example at the conference was the Ministry of Justice's transcription tool within probation services, which has already recorded and summarised over 150,000 meetings, saving an estimated 25,000 hours of staff time.

The same technology is now being piloted in courts and tribunals, with early results suggesting meaningful reductions in administrative effort alongside improvements in information access.

This is AI augmenting human capability, not replacing it. But as adoption grows, we must ensure the "human-in-the-loop" doesn't become a compliance exercise. Whether assessing risk, determining sentencing or deciding on probation interventions, accountability must remain with people. Human judgement is essential precisely because justice requires balancing complex, nuanced factors that no algorithm can fully capture.

Legacy technology: the unglamorous barrier to reform

The other theme that surfaced repeatedly was legacy technology - perhaps the least headline-grabbing aspect of digital justice reform, but one of the most consequential.

Modern, joined-up services are significantly harder to deliver when organisations remain constrained by ageing, fragmented systems. Legacy technical debt rarely attracts attention, yet it frequently determines whether transformation succeeds or fails.

True interoperability between police, courts, prisons, probation and wider justice partners is essential, so that information follows individuals through the system rather than getting trapped in silos. A coherent identity model that accompanies a person from first police contact through to rehabilitation could transform information sharing and decision-making throughout the justice journey. Without that foundation, genuinely joined-up justice services will remain out of reach.

Trust as the foundation

Underpinning every discussion was trust. Fairness, transparency and accountability are the principles justice is built on, but trust is what allows those principles to function in practice. The sector must deliver trust in its institutions; in the data it uses, and in the technology it introduces.

The conference left me optimistic. There is a growing, sector-wide recognition that the goal isn't any single technology or reform - it's a more connected, human-centred justice system.

Reform starts and ends with people. Technology simply gives us the opportunity to serve them better.

Justice and Emergency Services Programme activities

The techUK Justice and Emergency Services Programme represents tech firms operating in the public safety, criminal justice, and blue light markets. We create strong relationships between members and public sector customers, encouraging industry engagement, and unlocking innovation. Visit the programme page here.