Author
Asst Prof Fabio Coppola
Organisation/Institution
University of Salerno
Country
ITALY
Panel
Criminal Law
Title
Artificial Intelligence and the Metaverse for Sustainable Criminal Justice: Enhancing Legal Knowledge and Accessibility in the Digital Era
Abstract
This paper examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Metaverse can enhance legal knowledge, accessibility, and sustainability within criminal justice systems worldwide. In the context of Asia’s rapid digital transformation and its pursuit of regional integration, these technologies represent not merely tools of efficiency, but potential catalysts for a more transparent, participatory, and sustainable model of justice. The first part of the paper explores the role of AI in improving the knowability and predictability of criminal law. It considers the development of judicially trained chatbots that could enable citizens, lawyers, and judges to identify how similar cases have been decided in the past. Such systems would not replace judicial reasoning but rather democratize access to legal interpretation, allowing citizens to understand complex jurisprudence through explainable language models (LLMs). By promoting consistent and comprehensible case-law reasoning, these tools could reduce informational asymmetries and foster a more sustainable relationship between citizens and justice institutions. The second part focuses on the Metaverse and its potential to reshape procedural and evidentiary practices. Through digital twin environments, virtual “Meta Court Rooms” could host remote hearings, improving access to justice while reducing economic and environmental costs. Similarly, immersive platforms within the Metaverse may facilitate access to restorative justice programs by creating a controlled and less confrontational virtual environment, where victims and offenders can engage in dialogue and reconciliation without the emotional impact and tension often associated with face-to-face encounters. Furthermore, the Metaverse could revolutionize evidentiary analysis by recreating crime scenes to assess causation and intent. The paper presents a pioneering American case in which a judge used the Metaverse to evaluate a self-defense claim under the stand-your-ground law. Ultimately, the research argues that, if governed responsibly, AI and the Metaverse can serve as key instruments for advancing legal knowledge and enhancing the sustainability of criminal justice systems.
Biography
Fabio Coppola is a PhD and an Assistant Professor in Criminal Law and Artificial Intelligence at the Department of Legal Sciences, University of Salerno. He has held Visiting Research Fellow positions at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford under the supervision of Professors Nicola Padfield and Julian V. Roberts, as well as at the Center for Financial and Corporate Integrity of Coventry University and at the Manchester Law School – MMU. He serves as Lecturer at the National School of Administration (Presidency of the Council of Ministers) in the areas of Anti-Corruption and Whistleblowing. In 2023, he organized the first European simulation of a criminal trial in the Metaverse. In 2025, he published the monograph “Intelligenza artificiale, Metaverso e sistema penale: prevenzione, repressione, opportunità, rischi” (Artificial Intelligence, the Metaverse, and the Criminal Justice System: Prevention, Enforcement, Opportunities, and Risks). He has been a speaker at numerous international conferences, including: • G20 – International Symposium on Establishing the International Cooperation Mechanism Regarding Persons Sought for Corruption and Asset Recovery, Beijing, China (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022); • “Whistleblowers: Voices of Justice”, London, 10 May 2019; • “The Fight Against Tax Crime in the European Union Law”, Coventry University, 3 December 2019; • “Fighting Corruption in Italy”, Northeastern University – Boston, 23 January 2020; • “Tax Evasion, Corruption, and the Distortion of Justice”, Manchester Law School, 19 May 2023; • 20th Asian Law Institute Annual Conference, National University of Singapore, 31 May – 1 June 2023; • “Admitting Guilt as a Legal and a Human-Biased Factor in the Italian Sentencing System: How AI May Help Prevent Unfair Discrepancies”, University of Strathclyde – Glasgow, 22–23 June 2023; • "Useful but Risk-full: The New Challenge of Criminal Law in the Era of Generative AI Systems” at "Lawtomation Days: computing the law, regulating the algorithm. The transformative power of digital ecosystems”, IE University - Madrid, 26-27 September 2025. He is a Member of the Executive Board of C.I.R.C.E. (Interdepartmental Research Center on Economic Crimes), established within the Department of Legal Sciences at the University of Salerno.
