Open data of judicial decision in comparative perspective: towards a reshaping of source theory?

The convergence of civil and common law models is a classic theme of comparative law, so that it seems difficult to imagine anything to add to the extensive literature on the subject. What is changing today, however, is the perspective from which the same phenomenon can be viewed, thanks to the advent and development of artificial intelligence. This is the link connecting three very different systems such as the Chinese, French and Italian ones, which, at different times, have experienced an innovation that promises to change – and is already changing – the theory of the sources of law: the open data of judicial decisions. Such an initiative, firstly adopted in China, without too much resonance in Europe, has soon been replicated in France – whose legislative events, also in terms of certain debatable choices, have already been much discussed – and, finally, in Italy, where, since 14 December 2023, all the decisions rendered by the trial courts since 2016 are freely accessible by the public. Now, the availability of such a vast amount of material poses several challenges and promises multiple developments, with certainly different meanings and implications, also due to the constitutional and legal structure of each Country. However, what the three experiences have in common is – on the one hand – the historic (formal) rejection of the theory of binding precedent, which now contrasts with the sudden visibility of lower Courts jurisprudence that has so far remained hidden, and – on the other hand, and consequently – the need to redefine the relationships among such massive jurisprudence with the decisions of the Supreme Courts.