A team from the University of Cambridge have launched Lawbot (BETA), an interactive conversational tool that can consult people on their possible legal situations.
It’s a British tool, covering only criminal offenses in England and Wales. It lets people ask questions about their situation and figure out what the law would say.
The team built it to make it easier for people to understand how rules apply to their life, and avoid the frustrations of trying to figure out what legal rules apply to them.
LawBot is for everyone.
Whether you’ve been the victim of a crime, or are simply curious about the law, LawBot is here to provide confidential, non-judgmental, free, easy to understand legal knowledge.
In their day to day lives, everyone is impacted by the law. LawBot is here to help you understand the law (which is often convoluted and shrouded in ‘legalese’), access it, and figure out how you can make it work for you.
It is free to use, and promises not to track or disclose its users’ queries (at least so it will not reveal their identity or private information).
It presents itself as for use by the general public, and warns that it is not a substitute for a lawyer and does not provide ‘certified and insured’ legal advice.
It’s not about giving strategies or case-specific information. Rather, it tells the user what the law is on a certain topic like ‘harassment’ — explaining it in normal terms.
