The US Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it will begin using software to assist justices in determining when to recuse themselves from cases presenting potential conflicts of interest.

A brief court press release described an electronic matching process already employed by some lower courts, which compares the parties in a case with lists of individuals and organisations to which judges have ties. The justices’ 2023 code of conduct statement indicated they were considering adopting such a tool themselves.

“This software will run automated recusal checks by comparing information about parties and attorneys in a case with lists created by each Justice’s chambers,” the release said. “The system was designed by the Court’s Office of Information Technology in collaboration with the Court’s Legal and Clerk’s Offices.”

Court spokespeople declined to answer follow-up questions. The announcement coincides with rule changes requiring parties to include their stock ticker symbols in filings, enabling the new software to perform more precise checks.

Gabe Roth, head of the court reform group Fix the Court, welcomed the development but noted that lower courts have been using similar software since 2007, questioning why the justices took more than two years to adopt a tool they had considered in 2023.

The Supreme Court’s approach to ethics has long been criticised as opaque. The 2023 statement followed intense scrutiny over lavish trips taken by members of the court — particularly Justice Clarence Thomas — which were not disclosed on financial forms despite being subsidised by third parties. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch have also faced criticism for not recusing themselves in cases involving publishers that financed their book deals.