Estonian government to replace free legal aid with AI chatbot
A ministry chatbot will replace the free or discounted legal advice the state provides each year to around 10,000 people in financial difficulty, Postimees reported.
Since 2017, the Estonian state has provided free legal advice to low-income people — a separate service to the appointing of a state-funded lawyer for court proceedings, which will remain unchanged.
The service being cut had granted people in financially weaker situations options to consult a lawyer on matters including child support claims, contracts and employment relations, the newspaper notes, with the Ministry of Justice holding tenders to provide the service – most recently law firm HUGO.legal held this tender.
This year no new tender was held, however, and while HUGO.legal's contract was initially extended, it has now emerged that the ministry plans to end the free legal advice altogether, effective next year.
Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200) told Postimees that it has become apparent that people tend to ask the same questions, meaning a chatbot is now in its final testing phase and is due to be launched at the beginning of 2026.
HUGO.legal boss Erki Pisuke said that until now, up to two hours' free legal advice was granted to those whose average gross monthly income in the preceding quarter had been €1,200 or less, with discounted rates available for continued advice once those two hours had been used up.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Postimees
