Supreme Court releases draft rules for use of AI in courts, invites public suggestions

The Supreme Court of India has reportedly released draft regulations to govern the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in courts across the country. The proposed rules aim to encourage the responsible use of AI while ensuring that judges remain the final decision makers in all judicial matters. The Supreme Court has invited comments and suggestions from the public until June 20, before finalising the framework.

Under the draft regulations, lawyers will be reportedly allowed to use AI tools for legal research, preparing pleadings, drafting documents, translation, transcription, and case management.

However, any party or lawyer using AI in the preparation of documents, pleadings, submissions, or evidence must disclose this to the court at the time of filing.

The regulations state that courts may ask lawyers to provide details about the AI system used, the extent of AI assistance received, and the steps taken to verify the accuracy of the AI generated content. The Supreme Court has emphasized that AI generated material cannot be treated as independent evidence unless its AI generated nature is fully disclosed.

The draft also makes it clear that lawyers and litigants cannot escape responsibility by blaming AI for mistakes. If any document, pleading, or evidence is found to be false, fabricated, misleading, or inaccurate because of AI generated content, the person submitting it will be held fully responsible. Courts will have the authority to take appropriate action against such individuals.

The proposed regulations strongly uphold the principle of ‘human primacy’. According to the draft, AI systems can only assist judges and court officials and cannot replace human judgment. The authority to decide questions of law, facts, and justice will remain exclusively with judges. Judicial officers will continue to be accountable for all decisions, even when AI tools are used in the process.

The regulations impose strict limits on the use of AI in courts. The use of ‘black-box’ AI systems whose decision making process cannot be explained is also prohibited in matters affecting legal rights and personal liberty as per reports.

A Centre of Research and Excellence on Artificial Intelligence (CoRE-AI) would be reportedly created to conduct research, evaluate AI systems, and provide technical support to the judiciary. Courts using AI systems must comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and other applicable laws.

The Supreme Court has now placed the draft regulations in the public domain and invited stakeholders, legal professionals, technology experts, and citizens to submit their comments and suggestions before the framework is finalised.