Use of AI to assist taking witness statements

Overview — This proof of concept examines whether an AI tool can support the preparation of accurate witness statements within Scotland's Children's Hearings System, the statutory system of care and justice that makes decisions about compulsory measures of supervision for children and young people in need of care, support and protection. It forms part of SCRA's wider AI programme, which identifies and tests potential applications of AI in the Children's Hearings System, based on engagement with staff about how AI might address common challenges and free up staff to better support children and families.

How it is used — When a child or young person is referred to SCRA, a Children's Reporter assesses whether there is evidence that compulsory intervention is needed and, if so, arranges a Children's Hearing; where the child or family does not accept the reasons, SCRA may go to court, and the Reporter asks individuals concerned about the child to give evidence. In this proof of concept, Children's Reporters use a web-based transcription tool to record and transcribe interviews with prospective witnesses, and the transcripts are turned into witness statements in line with SCRA's practice standards.

Human oversight — Although the initial witness statement is generated automatically, both the Children's Reporter and the witness are responsible for verifying its accuracy: the Reporter checks and corrects the transcript and edits the statement to ensure it is accurate and relevant, and the witness is given a copy to confirm it accurately reflects their evidence.

Assessment and impact — The tool has been piloted by at least 14 councils in England and Wales, where evaluations in social-work services indicated high accuracy and a significant reduction in administrative burden. SCRA is further assessing its accuracy in the Scottish legal context through focus groups with Children's Reporters, the logging of errors fed back to managers and developers, and a research-team assessment of transcription accuracy across different accents, ages, genders and ethnicities, compared with other transcription services and human transcription. In parallel, a wider research project is gathering the views of children, families, carers, social workers, safeguarders, advocates, solicitors, SCRA staff and panel members on the ethics, rights and legalities of using AI, and equality and human rights, children's rights and data-protection impact assessments are being undertaken.

• Speeds up resolution of court cases by enabling SCRA to share evidence with the solicitors acting for parents and children ahead of court, reducing the time families spend in proceedings that are known to be traumatic and to cause significant anxiety.
• Improves the preparedness and confidence of Children's Reporters in court by allowing them to be ready early and well for each case.
• Reduces the administrative load of producing witness statements, particularly for complex cases requiring input from multiple witnesses.