CLAIRE is a research centre within the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Łódź. It was established by Order No. 133 of the Rector of the University of Łódź of 4 May 2026, with effect from 1 May 2026, for an indefinite term. Its director is Professor Dominik Lubasz (dr hab., prof. UŁ).

The Centre studies the legal dimensions of artificial intelligence, the automation of legal processes and digital transformation. It works doctrinally and comparatively, drawing on regulatory analysis, law and economics, and law and technology scholarship. CLAIRE is self-financing: its work is funded through research grants, international projects and cooperation with institutional partners.

The research question

The Centre's programme is organised around the legality and legitimacy of algorithmic power in the European legal order. Four strands run in parallel: the constitutional limits of automated decision-making, trust as a normative category, the risk-based approach as a framework of legality, and ex ante responsibility and procedural control over decisions taken by AI systems.

The second axis is LegalTech, treated not as a set of tools but as an object of regulation. We examine the limits of permissible automation of legal acts, liability for the operation of AI tools in legal practice, the protection of professional secrecy and client data where generative models are used, and the effect of technology on the ethics of the legal professions. The scale of the shift is already measurable: the Wolters Kluwer Future Ready Lawyer Survey (2024) found that 76% of lawyers in corporate legal departments and 68% in law firms use generative AI at least weekly, while LexisNexis recorded a rise in AI use among UK lawyers from 11% in 2023 to 41% in 2024.

Research areas

• EU digital law: the AI Act, the Data Act, the DSA and DMA, DORA, NIS2, and the regulation of frontier models

• data protection in AI systems, including data protection by design and risk assessment

• AI systems in public administration and in the justice system

• LegalTech and the transformation of the market for legal services

• platform regulation, including platform-to-business relations (P2B)

How the Centre works

CLAIRE publishes its results in Polish and international journals, among them Computer Law & Security Review , the International Journal of Law and Information Technology and the European Journal of Law and Technology , as well as with international academic publishers. It prepares reports and analyses on regulatory barriers to the deployment of AI, and organises open seminars, debates and conferences, which are also addressed to students and doctoral candidates.

The Centre cooperates with regulators and industry bodies, including the Polish Data Protection Authority (UODO), the AI Office, the AI Chamber and the Polish Chamber of Digital Economy.

Within the University, CLAIRE complements the Faculty's AI Hub and serves as a platform for cooperation between existing teams: Lodz Cyber HUB, the AI for Justice Lab, the AI Work Team and the Centre for Personal Data Protection and Information Management. It also provides legal expertise to the University's Generative AI Task Force.

Scientific Council

The Centre's Scientific Council brings together sixteen researchers from Polish and foreign institutions:

Prof. Monika Namysłowska (University of Łódź), Prof. Giovanni Maria Riccio (University of Salerno), Prof. Jacek Gołaczyński (University of Wrocław), Prof. Mariusz Golecki (University of Łódź), Prof. Jakub Szczerbowski (University of Łódź), Prof. Krzysztof Stefański (University of Łódź), Prof. Marlena Sakowska-Baryła (University of Łódź), Prof. Grzegorz Sibiga (Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences), Prof. Wojciech Wiewiórowski (University of Gdańsk), Prof. Grzegorz Wierczyński (University of Gdańsk), Prof. Dariusz Szostek (University of Silesia), Prof. Agnieszka Grzelak (Kozminski University), Prof. Przemysław Polański (Kozminski University), Prof. Marek Świerczyński (SWPS University), Prof. Michał Jackowski (SWPS University), Prof. Mariusz Krzysztofek (Kuyavian-Pomeranian University).

Projects

BRIDGE. A Polish-German symposium series run jointly with Professor Boris P. Paal of the Technical University of Munich, devoted to the legal aspects of digital transformation and to the current debate on the EU Digital Omnibus proposals. The first meeting was held in Łódź; the next is planned in Munich.

AI in the justice system and access to courts. CLAIRE is assembling a research consortium for the Trans-Atlantic Platform "Preparing Tomorrow" call (NCN/UNISONO), with the University of Łódź as lead partner and partners in Germany and Latin America. The project asks how regulatory choices on AI in the justice system affect citizens' actual access to courts and their trust in judicial institutions. The full proposal is planned for autumn 2026.

Data protection law as a regime for regulating AI. A continuation of the research set out in the monograph GDPR for AI: A Legal Framework for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence through Data Protection by Design (Kluwer Law International), including the relationship between the GDPR and the AI Act at the design stage of AI systems.

Commentary on the AI Act. Editorial work on a commentary to Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, with contributors from Polish research institutions.

Contact

Professor Dominik Lubasz, Director Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Łódź ul. Kopcińskiego 8/12, 90-232 Łódź, Poland dominik.lubasz@wpia.uni.lodz.pl