X-RAYING THE LEGALITY OF A ROBOT LAWYER IN THE NIGERIAN COURTS

Abstract

There is no gain saying that Artificial Intelligence owns the future of humanity. The ability of AI in Apps and robots to, effortlessly and at reduced cost, do what man can do and even more makes the thoughts and reception of IA welcoming and a worthwhile venture. From inventions such as Kids Arm and Canadaarm2, arm looking robots that could perform surgeries thought to be unachievable thereby advancing in medicine with the help of space based technology, chatbots which is useful in writings and research, Siri, voice assistants to help with daily tasks and of recent, AI enabled robot teachers and robot lawyers expected to guide parties in their cases before the court. Yes, for a very long time men and women of the bar have been seen in courts conducting cases for and against clients and parties respectively. This normal is about to experience a ‘new normal’. How this new normal will exist and fits-in in different jurisdictions depend on legal system. The legal profession is a highly regimented profession in various jurisdictions. There are sacrosanct rules on legal education, practice, conduct and ethics regulating the prestigious and humble profession everywhere in the world. The intention of this paper is to analyze the Nigerian legal system in order to determine the status of a robot lawyer within the system and whether the legal profession can accommodate a robot – lawyer. In essence, can a robot practice as a lawyer in Nigeria.? Does a robot have a right of audience before the Nigerian courts? A qualitative legal research methodology is adopted; and at the end of the work, appropriate recommendation shall be made based on the findings.