PETALING JAYA — The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) poses one of the most pressing ‘res nova’ or new and unprecedented challenges for the judiciary, particularly in ensuring accountability, fairness and integrity in judicial decision-making, Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said. 

He said the rise of AI has introduced legal issues never contemplated by legal predecessors, from automated decision-making to its use in legal practice itself, raising questions of responsibility and even personhood.

“Some fear that AI will replace judicial reasoning. I believe the opposite is true. AI will make human judicial wisdom more essential, not less,” he said in his keynote address at the Selangor Bar Law Conference 2025 themed ‘Res Nova’ here today.

Also present were Court of Appeal President Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Azizah Nawawi.

The term ‘res nova’ is a Latin phrase that translates to ‘a new thing’. In legal contexts, it refers to a legal issue or cases that have not previously been decided by the courts.