The use of AI by litigants in person is creating ‘significant demands’ on court staff and the judiciary, the lady chief justice has revealed.

In Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill’s third annual report, she acknowledged that both the King’s Bench Division Civil List and the Administrative List ‘saw growing numbers’ of LiPs turning to AI to construct their claims.

While AI usage by LiPs ‘is improving access to justice [it] is also placing significant demands on both court staff and the judiciary. Increased case management is often required to establish what remedy the LiP is actually seeking’, she stated. 

In her introduction to the report, she said the judiciary is ‘considering carefully’ AI’s potential uses and dangers.

She added: ‘Many judicial office holders have noted an increase in AI use among litigants in person. While improving access to justice, this also brings its own complexities, but the judiciary is responding proactively with, for example, the Court of Appeal Criminal Division’s guidance for litigants on the use of AI when preparing grounds of appeal.

‘More broadly, while we recognise the potential for AI tools – such as those used for transcription and summarisation – to reduce court backlogs and improve timeliness, the judiciary stands firm that oversight of use and decision-making will remain a human, judge-led function.’

Read more

Noting the increase of work for Criminal Appeal Office staff as they ‘continue to assist the increasing number of [LiPs] to facilitate access to justice’, the report added: ‘The use of AI in the preparation of LiP grounds of appeal has been noted and the [Court of Appeal Criminal Division] is preparing guidance on this. The CACD is grateful for the assistance of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Appeals Unit in relation to applications lodged by LiP.’

The annual report, which looks into the work of the judiciary from October 2025 to September 2026, also looked ahead to the Civil Justice Council’s report on the use of AI in the preparation of court documents which it said ‘will make a significant contribution to the national debate on the role of emerging technologies within the justice system’. The report was published at the end of last month.