#114 | Episode 4: In the Blind Spot – Artificial Intelligence and Justice (In French)

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Episode 4 | In the Blind Spot – Artificial Intelligence and Justice (in French)

Broadcast Date: January 29, 2026

EPISODE SUMMARY | CONFERENCE | SERIES OVERVIEW | BIOGRAPHIES | USEFUL LINKS | PREVIOUS SERIES

EPISODE SUMMARY

AI is now making its way into courtrooms and law firms. But how does it really work? What are its concrete uses, from legal research to document management? Can it improve access to justice, or will it create new inequalities?

In this 4th episode of the series “In the Blind Spot,” the Honourable Justice Simon Ruel speaks with Catherine Régis, Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal, to explore the arrival of AI in the judicial system.

Between promises of efficiency and risks to judicial independence, transparency, and the fundamental values of justice, this episode offers essential insight into an issue that is redefining the future of law.

Guest

• Catherine Régis, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal

Host

• The Honourable Justice Simon Ruel, Court of Appeal of Quebec

BIOGRAPHIES

Catherine Régis

Catherine Régis is Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of Université de Montréal (UdeM), an Associate Academic Member at Mila, Co-director of the Canadian AI Safety Institute research program at CIFAR, Director of Social Innovation and International Policy at IVADO as well as an Intellectual Forum Senior Research Associate at Jesus College in the University of Cambridge. She holds a Canada CIFAR Chair in AI and an FRQ International Research Chair on Science Diplomacy and Global Governance of AI. From 2021 to 2023, she was UdeM’s Associate Vice-Rector for Strategic Planning and Responsible Digital Innovation.

Most of her work explores how to best regulate AI at the national and international levels and to build responsible AI governance approaches more broadly. She is especially interested in guiding the development of norms for the health care sector to ensure that AI is accessible and safe for patients and health care professionals. She is also focusing on a better integration of human rights perspectives throughout the entire AI life cycle. She leads or collaborates on various research and applied policy projects which build on such perspective. As illustrations, she works on the development of AI Human Rights Impact Assessments as well as AI policies for gender equality and diversity, fair elections processes, sustainable cities and global governance.

Prof. Régis is active on the international scene. In 2022, she was appointed Cochair of the Working Group on Responsible AI of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), which comprises 29 member states (including Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan and the USA) for a period of two years. From 2020 to 2024, she led the Working Group on Responsible Digital Innovation and AI of the U7+ Alliance, which includes more than 50 universities from around the world. In 2022, she was a selected Fellow for the UN’s Institute for Training and Research’s program (UNITAR) in Science Diplomacy, and, in 2024, she became part of the Technical Committee for UNESCO’s AI and the Rule of Law Program. She has presented her work at various major institutions (such as the OECD, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the Alan Turing Institute, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Aspen Ministers Forum) as well as in high-level conferences (including the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in 2023 and NeurIPS). She is involved in the development of Science Diplomacy, which aims at building leadership and communication skills to bridge science and diplomacy in policymaking at the national and international levels. She participated in the elaboration of the Montreal Declaration on Responsible AI.

The Honourable Justice Simon Ruel

The Honourable Simon Ruel was elevated to the Court of Appeal of Quebec on June 21, 2017, after having sat on the Quebec Superior Court from 2014 to 2017. Justice Ruel studied law at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and has completed a certificate in Russian studies at Université Laval’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. 

As a lawyer, Justice Ruel practised mainly in public and administrative law and in government affairs. He was a member of the Quebec Bar (1995) and of the Law Society of Ontario (2007). After beginning his career with the firm of Grey Casgrain in Montreal, he subsequently became a litigator and counsel to the federal Department of Justice, the Privy Council Office, and the federal Department of Finance in Ottawa. Before his appointment to the Superior Court, he was a partner at the firm of BCF Business Law in Quebec City and, prior to that, at the national Canadian firm Heenan Blaikie 

Justice Ruel participated as counsel in numerous federal and provincial public inquiries and investigations. These included the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, the Cornwall Public Inquiry, and the Commission of Inquiry on the Process for Appointing Judges presided by the Honourable Michel Bastarache. He also appeared before the Manitoba Court of Appeal to represent the Manitoba Commission of Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Phoenix Sinclair. 

In addition to practising law, Justice Ruel taught public and administrative law at the Quebec Bar School and lectured on civil and commercial evidence at the University of Ottawa. He has authored or co-authored numerous legal publications, articles, and commentaries on public and administrative law and on inquiries. He has also participated as a speaker, host, or moderator in a number of legal events on topics covering judicial ethics, public and administrative law, public inquiries and investigations, criminal and penal law, the use of technology in the justice system, and judgment writing. Justice Ruel has served as chair of the Quebec Judicial Committee on Information Security (“COMSI”) and chair of the Judges Section of the Canadian Bar Association. 

He is currently a puisne member of the Judicial Independence Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council and co-chair of the Council’s social media subcommittee. As counsel, he advised the Council on reforms to the disciplinary process for federally appointed judges and, subsequently, as a member of the Council’s Judicial Independence Committee, he participated in revising the Ethical Principles for Judges, which were updated in 2021, and in the drafting of the Guidelines on the Use of Social Media by Federally Appointed Judges, which were released in October 2024. 

Justice Ruel also has an interest in international law. In 2014, in preparation for the review of Haiti’s implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, he participated, on behalf of Transparency International/Haiti, in an international mission to assess anti-corruption measures taken by the Republic of Haiti. 

Over the course of his study leave during the 2023-2024 judicial year, Justice Ruel focused on the law of war, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. He was a visiting professor at Université Laval’s Faculty of Law in Quebec City and took part in a number of teaching activities and seminars on these topics. He collaborated with the Faculty’s International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic and with Lawyers Without Borders, including on issues relating to the prevention of corruption. He also made three visits to the International Criminal Court in The Hague as a visiting professional to observe all facets of international criminal justice in an active case involving the Central African Republic. 

USEFUL LINKS

• Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Canadian Courts • First Edition, September 2024: https://cjc-ccm.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2024/AI%20Guidelines%20-%20FINAL%20-%202024-09%20-%20EN.pdf
• Cadre de gouvernance en matière d’intelligence artificielle (French only) – Cour supérieure du Québec • Septembre 2025: https://coursuperieureduquebec.ca/fileadmin/cour-superieure/A_propos/2025-09_Cadre_gouvernance_IA_Cour_superieure_Quebec.pdf
• Guidelines for the use of AI systems in courts and tribunals – Gutiérrez, Juan David • UNESCO 2025: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/guidelines-use-ai-systems-courts-and-tribunals

PREVIOUS SERIES

“Under Fire” is a series of french podcasts produced by the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice and hosted by the Honorable Judge Simon Ruel of the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2024. The interviews feature experts in international law, the law of war, humanitarian law, and international criminal law. The series aims to examine and understand the rules and legal consequences arising from international conflicts.

The right to wage war (jus ad bellum) and international humanitarian law (jus in bello) concern, respectively, the right of states to use armed force against other states and the regulation of armed conflict once it has begun, with the aim, in particular, of limiting suffering and protecting civilian populations. International criminal law deals with the individual criminal responsibility of actors in armed conflicts for crimes constituting serious violations of humanitarian law, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The International Criminal Court is a permanent international criminal court with universal jurisdiction and a mandate to rule on the responsibility of such actors. In addition, certain issues relating to armed conflict may also be brought before the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, particularly with regard to the use of force in international law and the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The “Under Fire” podcast series explores these topics with experts in an accessible and educational manner, with the aim of demystifying these important concepts for the Canadian legal community and enabling it to better understand the current global flashpoints and their consequences.

List of episodes (in French):

• Le droit international humanitaire (ou droit des conflits armés – jus in bello)
• La justice pénale internationale sous toutes ses coutures
• La défense en justice pénale internationale
• Les victimes et la justice pénale internationale
• Le recours à la force en droit international et la Cour internationale de justice

In All Fairness is a Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice podcast channel welcoming representatives from the legal community and exploring how we can all contribute to improving the administration of justice in Canada. Legal professionals will benefit from informed discussions on key issues, essential knowledge and insights to strengthen their practice.

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