Ireland: Using AI in Court Actions
With effect from September 1st 2026, the Irish High Court has issued a Practice Direction governing the use of AI in all High Court proceedings, including those already before the Court.
The Direction accepts that AI can improve efficiencies particularly in the access to justice. However, it makes clear that all parties (participants, lawyers, witnesses and experts) remain fully responsible for the accuracy and validity of all matters submitted to the Court.
What does this mean?
- Human oversight: all content generated by or with AI assistance must be independently human verified before being used in proceedings. This includes checking facts, case references, legal authorities and quotations. It is not permitted to review AI generated material by using another AI tool.
- AI Risks: the Direction highlights the AI risks of hallucinations, bias, inaccuracies and confidentiality and privilege concerns.
- Witness evidence: witness statements and expert reports must generally include a declaration that AI has not been used to generate or modify substantive content in the statement or report and that the document reflects the witness’ own knowledge and recollection. A template declaration is provided.
Where can AI be used?
- Basic administrative tasks such as formatting, spell and grammar checking.
- If AI has been used in expert reports at all, the nature and extent of that use must be disclosed to the parties and the Court, to enable them to assess the independence and reliability of the evidence.
Compliance and Breach
The Court may require the parties to state the use and extent of AI in preparing materials used in the case. Failure to comply can result in adverse cost orders, rejection of court documents and even strike outs of claims or defences. Legal practitioners maybe referred to their professional bodies or regulatory authorities.
This is a high-level general update only. Legal advice should be obtained on specific circumstances.