This post raises good questions. I see the cab rank rule (or its equivalent in other jurisdictions) as an important safeguard against excessive inequality in the application of the law before the Courts, against discrimination, arbitrary treatment, and the simulacrum of justice. It is a mandatory patch on our imperfect justice, like the buttresses of a Romanesque chapel.
But it seems important to remember that it is by no means an end in itself. I am not a believer, but if a truly and perfectly moral God were to exist, I would prefer His Justice to our human justice, and I suspect most criminals would come to regret the human version. It is easy to shelter in the shadow of the buttresses that sustain the edifice.
That said, in the absence of any ideal justice, I remain glad that such safeguards exist, for they also protect the innocent and limit judicial errors, criminal procedure and the presumption of innocence belong to the same family of remedies.
As for AI, honestly, I am not greatly troubled by the prospect that bad actors might occasionally receive somewhat worse advice. I do acknowledge, however, that for certain applications of AI (law ?), something analogous to the cab rank rule ought perhaps to be built into the fine-tuning.
This post raises good questions. I see the cab rank rule (or its equivalent in other jurisdictions) as an important safeguard against excessive inequality in the application of the law before the Courts, against discrimination, arbitrary treatment, and the simulacrum of justice. It is a mandatory patch on our imperfect justice, like the buttresses of a Romanesque chapel.
But it seems important to remember that it is by no means an end in itself. I am not a believer, but if a truly and perfectly moral God were to exist, I would prefer His Justice to our human justice, and I suspect most criminals would come to regret the human version. It is easy to shelter in the shadow of the buttresses that sustain the edifice.
That said, in the absence of any ideal justice, I remain glad that such safeguards exist, for they also protect the innocent and limit judicial errors, criminal procedure and the presumption of innocence belong to the same family of remedies.
As for AI, honestly, I am not greatly troubled by the prospect that bad actors might occasionally receive somewhat worse advice. I do acknowledge, however, that for certain applications of AI (law ?), something analogous to the cab rank rule ought perhaps to be built into the fine-tuning.