Gujarat High Court Bars Judges From Using Artificial Intelligence In Decision Making, Reasoning, Interpretation

The Gujarat High Court in its 'Policy On Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Judicial and Court Administration' released on Saturday (April 4) has prohibited judges from using AI in any form of decision making, adjudication and for preparation of judgments.

The policy, unveiled by Supreme Court Justice Vikram Nath today, applies to all judicial officers in the state, court staff in high court, legal services authority and district judiciary.

Further the policy applies to all court-related work "including hearings, case management, registry functions, administrative tasks, and research activities, whether conducted within the Court premises or remotely".

Judicial Independence

• Artificial intelligence shall never be employed for any form of decision-making, judicial reasoning, substantive order drafting or judgment preparation, bail/sentencing considerations, or any substantive adjudicatory process
• Broadly, Artificial intelligence shall not be used—directly or indirectly—for any aspect of judicial decision, adjudication, reasoning, application of law, interpretation of facts, weighing of arguments, determination of rights/liabilities, sentencing, bail, interim orders, or final judgment.
• Each judge remains fully and personally responsible for every order, judgment, and observation issued in their name.

The policy applies to all persons working within the judicial and administrative framework of the Registry of the High Court of Gujarat and District Judiciary.

These include:

• All Judicial Officers.
• All officers and staff, whether regular or contractual, of the High Court of Gujarat and allied institutions such as Gujarat State Judicial Academy, Gujarat High Court Arbitration Centre, Gujarat State Legal Services Authority.
• Legal assistants, interns, trainees, and para-legal volunteers, engaged with the Court.
• All ministerial, administrative, and technical staff , whether regular or contractual, of the District Judiciary

Objectives

The policy aims to:

• Enable judicial officers and court staff to leverage AI tools to improve productivity, reduce administrative burden, and enhance access to justice, while preserving judicial independence and the sanctity of judicial decision-making.
• Establish clear boundaries on permissible and prohibited uses of AI tools within the High Court of Gujarat and all subordinate courts under its jurisdiction.
• Protect the confidentiality of case-related information, litigant data, and court records in conformity with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
• Promote institutional accountability by requiring human supervision and verification in all AI-assisted work.
• Provide a basis for regular review and evolution of AI governance as the technology landscape develops.

Permitted use of AI

The policy permits use of AI for:

• Administrative and Productivity Tasks such as Code generation or automation for IT department tasks; creating presentations or templates for internal training purposes; for drafting and improving circulars and notices, information of which are in public domain.
• Legal Research Support wherein AI may be employed for legal research, retrieval or analysis of judgments, extraction of ratio decidendi, identification of precedents, statutory interpretation, or any preparatory intellectual work supporting adjudication but with all human conscience and subject to verification by applying mind. Such research work must be supported and confirmed by comparing with the approved journals of the case laws. It can be used for generating a preliminary list of potentially relevant cases or statutes for further research (not a substitute for comprehensive AIJEL, SCC Online, or AIR searches). It can be used for comparing draft legal texts, statutes, or judgments.
• Drafting Assistance: AI can be used for improving the language, structure, and clarity of draft orders, judgments, and opinions — provided the substantive legal analysis and reasoning remains entirely that of the judge • Generating a structural outline or framework for a judgment or opinion, subject to full judicial review and rewriting. It can be used for checking existing drafts for typographical or grammatical errors
• Language and Translation: AI can used for machine-assisted translation of documents, provided all outputs are verified by a qualified translator or by the judge with competence in the relevant language before any reliance is placed on the translated text. AI-assisted transcription of hearings, provided the transcript is reviewed and certified by the judicial officer before use
• Case Management and Administration: AI-assisted scheduling and cause list management, based solely on objective, anonymised metadata e.g. case type, complexity indicators, workload metrics, disposal rates etc. Suggesting equitable distribution of cases among judicial officers, based solely on anonymised metadata concerning case nature, complexity, workload balance, disposal rates etc. Automated extraction of case metadata for registry purposes. Statistical and administrative reporting from CIS data.

The policy states that the High Court recognises that Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI tools present significant opportunities to enhance the efficiency, accessibility, and quality of justice delivery in the Indian court system. At the same time, these technologies carry substantial risks — including hallucinations, bias, confidentiality breaches, and erosion of judicial independence — that must be managed with care and institutional discipline.

"This Policy is issued in exercise of the powers under Articles 225 and 227 of the Constitution of India, by the High Court of Gujarat, guided by the constitutional mandate to uphold rule of law, secure the right to a fair hearing under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and protect the institutional integrity of the judiciary. It shall be read together with the Information Technology Act, 2000; the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) as and when it comes into force; the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971; and the High Court of Gujarat Rules, 1993, and any subsequent notifications or circulars issued by the Supreme Court of India or this Court," the Preamble to the policy states.

Violations

Any violation of the provisions in the policy shall be "treated as misconduct and shall attract appropriate action" including departmental or disciplinary proceedings under applicable service rules.

This is in addition to, and not in derogation of, any civil or criminal liability that may arise under any applicable law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the DPDP Act, 2023, or the BNS 2023.

Last year, the Kerala High Court had also issued policy guidelines regarding the use of AI in the judiciary, barring the use of Artificial Intelligence tools for decision-making.

Click Here To Read/Download Policy