Intelligent Case Prioritization

The Judicial Workload Problem in Spain

Spain has one of the highest litigation rates in Europe. A first instance judge can handle more than 1,000 cases per year.

How Can AI Help?

AI doesn't decide which case is more important (that's a jurisdictional function). But it can:

1. Automatic classification: group cases by type, complexity, and urgency
2. Deadline alerts: flag files close to statute expiration or with critical deadlines
3. Similarity detection: identify related cases for consolidation
4. Duration estimation: predict how long each type of proceeding will take
5. Equitable distribution: suggest balanced distribution among courts

Prioritization Criteria

An intelligent system can consider:

• Legal urgency: interim measures, gender violence, minors
• Seniority: oldest pending cases
• Complexity: number of parties, volume of evidence, preliminary questions
• Social impact: cases with public or collective repercussion

Ethical Limits

• AI suggests, the judge decides
• There cannot be prioritization based on parties' personal characteristics
• Transparency is mandatory: parties must be able to know the turn criteria
• The system must be periodically audited against biases

Example: Minerva System (Spanish Digital Justice)

The Justice 2030 Plan includes digital tools for:

• Electronic judicial file (EJE)
• Interoperability between courts
• Data analytics for workload management