LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2022-12-09
However far technology develops, AI must not take the place of a judge's ruling, though it may assist drafting and case administration, China's Supreme People's Court said
Judge / magistrateoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2022-12-09
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Drafting judgments and orders
Writing reasons, orders and summaries that the parties and appeal courts will read.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Deciding the case
Deciding who wins, what the law requires and what sentence to impose.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Case management and administration
Scheduling, triaging cases, managing files and the records of proceedings.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
China. The Supreme People's Court's opinion sets an assisting-trial principle: however far technology develops, AI must not take the place of a judge's ruling, its output may serve only as a reference, and judicial responsibility rests with the judge. It supports AI for evidence guidance, pushing similar cases, assisted generation and review of legal documents, and administrative work such as automatic file classification, case triage between simple and complex matters and automatic generation of hearing records. A policy opinion; it does not measure use.
What this means
The world's largest court system wrote the line into policy: AI may help draft and administer, but never rule.
What it does not yet show
A policy opinion from one country; it does not show how courts use AI in practice.
What you can check
Open the Supreme People's Court opinion on regulating and strengthening AI in judicial work (Fa Fa [2022] No. 33) and find 「不得代替法官裁判」.
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 3 linked task judgements above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
最高人民法院关于规范和加强人工智能司法应用的意见(法发〔2022〕33号,发布时间 2022-12-09) · verified 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.