Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026: Supreme Court Draft Rules Ban AI-Based Judicial Decisions

Context

The Supreme Court AI Committee, chaired by Justice P.S. Narasimha, has released a preliminary draft of ‘Regulations for Use of AI in Courts, 2026’, prohibiting AI from determining judicial outcomes and mandating human oversight.

Read Also: UPSC Daily Current Affairs 2026

Key Provisions

• General Principles
  • AI must function solely in an assistive capacity, strictly subservient to human judgment and judicial authority.
  • No opaque/unexplainable AI systems permitted in any court process.
  • AI must not perpetuate bias on grounds of race, religion, caste, sex, gender, disability, language, or economic status, any ground prohibited under the Constitution.
  • Personal data processed through AI governed by Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
  • Must not widen digital divides — must remain accessible to rural, economically disadvantaged, and linguistically diverse communities.
• Permitted Uses(Administrative functions only): Case management, cause list preparation, scheduling of hearings, transcription, and translation of judgments.
• Prohibited Uses
  • AI-Assisted Sentencing without mandatory human oversight.
  • Profiling of parties or witnesses.
  • Risk Scoring– flight risk assessment, recidivism prediction, bail eligibility determination.
  • Credibility Assessment of parties or witnesses.
  • Surveillance/Continuous Monitoring of judicial officers, advocates, or litigants.
• Human-in-the-Loop (HITL): Applications involving higher risk to personal liberty or integrity of judicial outcomes require mandatory HITL and independent oversight.
  • Human-in-the-Loop (HITL): A design principle requiring that a human must review, approve, or intervene in AI-generated decisions, especially in high-stakes domains like judiciary, healthcare, and defence.

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