LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2025-10-31
Judges must always read the underlying documents, and AI is a poor way to research new information they cannot verify, the judiciary of England and Wales told its judges
Judge / magistrateoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2025-10-31
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Hearing cases and running proceedings
Presiding in court, hearing evidence and argument, and keeping proceedings fair and orderly.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Researching the law
Finding and reading the statutes, precedents and authorities a case turns on.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Drafting judgments and orders
Writing reasons, orders and summaries that the parties and appeal courts will read.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
England and Wales. The judiciary's guidance to judicial office holders says they are personally responsible for material produced in their name; that judges must always read the underlying documents and AI cannot stand in for direct judicial engagement with evidence; that AI tools are a poor way of conducting research to find new information you cannot verify; and that nothing not already public should be entered into a public AI chatbot. Guidance, not statute.
What this means
A senior judiciary has written down what AI may help with and what the judge must still do personally.
What it does not yet show
One jurisdiction's guidance; it does not record how judges actually use AI.
What you can check
Open the October 2025 AI Guidance for Judicial Office Holders and find "must always read the underlying documents".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. Of the 3 linked judgements above, 1 moved from inference to evidence with this record; the other 2 already rested on earlier evidence.
Source
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (England and Wales) — Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidance for Judicial Office Holders (31 October 2025) · 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.