Supreme Court's Draft “AI Regulations for Courts, 2026”: Why Every Lawyer Must Speak Up
By Adv. Amarjeet Singh, Founder, PRAN – Policy Research Action Network Foundation
Introduction
The Supreme Court of India has published a draft titled “Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026” that would require mandatory disclosure whenever AI is used to prepare or submit legal materials. This is a foundational move: it accepts AI’s potential to assist legal work while insisting on transparency and protection of judicial independence.
Why this matters
Transparency and trust: Requiring disclosure helps courts understand authorship and the provenance of arguments and evidence.
Procedural fairness: Open use of AI prevents undisclosed reliance on generative models that can hallucinate or fabricate citations.
Professional responsibility: Advocates will need practical guidance on what counts as “AI-assisted” drafting and how to certify documents.
What the draft allows (assistive uses)
Legal research and case-law summaries to save time and surface precedents.
Drafting support and formatting help (templates, redlines, citations checks).
Translation and language simplification for access and clarity.
Administrative workflow tools to improve court efficiency.
What the draft prohibits (high-risk uses)
Any AI role in judicial decision-making or automated adjudication.
AI fabrication or manipulation of evidence, and generation of false/misleading citations.
High-risk profiling or automated inferences that affect rights without human oversight.
These prohibitions respond to global concerns about bias, explainability, and “hallucinations” in generative systems.
Open questions and implementation challenges
What counts as “AI-assisted” in hybrid workflows where humans and tools collaborate? Will a quick grammar check trigger disclosure?
How will courts verify disclosures — spot checks, audit logs, or affidavit-style certifications?
What penalties will apply for non-disclosure, and will there be safe-harbour rules for honest mistakes?
Will AI tools be required to produce verifiable audit trails or explainability reports?
Policy perspective (PRAN view)
The draft takes a sensible, preventive-governance approach: it aims to let AI improve access and efficiency while protecting due process. Its effectiveness will depend on operational details that practitioners must help shape — especially definitions, compliance burden, and enforceability.
Practical advice for lawyers now
Start documenting tool use: note which tool, what function (research/translation/drafting), and timestamps.
Adopt simple disclosure language you can include in filings (example below).
Push for realistic thresholds: minor language checks should not trigger the same burden as substantive drafting assistance.
Advocate for limited, proportional penalties and for guidance on audit trails and privacy safeguards.
Draft disclosure language (ready to copy)
“At the time of filing, the undersigned discloses that portions of the attached document were prepared with the assistance of AI tools limited to [research/drafting/translation/formatting]. The undersigned retains primary responsibility for the content and certifies that source references have been independently verified.”
How to participate — submit comments
The Supreme Court has invited public comments on the draft until 20 June 2026. Send structured feedback (clause number, issue, practical concern, suggested change) with name and contact to office.regcc@sci.nic.in.
Call to action
This consultation will shape how courts balance innovation with judicial integrity. Legal professionals, bar associations, court staff, technology developers, and civil-society groups should submit focused, practical suggestions before the deadline.
Hindi summary (short for social)
सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने “AI Regulations for Courts, 2026” का ड्राफ्ट जारी किया है; यदि किसी दस्तावेज़ में AI का उपयोग हुआ है तो खुलासा अनिवार्य होगा। सुझाव 20 जून 2026 तक भेजें: office.regcc@sci.nic.in। वकीलों से अनुरोध है कि वे व्यावहारिक, क्लॉज-स्तरीय प्रतिक्रिया दें।.