The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has launched an eight-week consultation to address whether procedural rules are needed to govern the use of AI by legal representatives for the preparation of court documents, such as:
- Statements of case.
- Skeleton arguments and other advocacy documents.
- Witness statements,
- Expert reports.
Part 8 of the consultation also examines this question in relation to experts in the preparation of their reports.
It cites the Bond Solon Expert Witness Survey 2025, which reported that 20% of respondents had used AI in their role as expert witness and suggested that “perhaps this is the time for strong guidance from the judiciary in term of court rules, protocols and case law dealing with AI”.
It also cites the American case of Kohls v Elison No 24-cv-3754 (D Minn 10 January 2025) in which an expert witness used AI to draft his report and accidentally submitted misinformation.
The CJC proposes extending the statement of truth in PD35 3.3 to allow a further requirement that “the expert explains what use of AI has been made other than for transcription (or other administrative uses) and that the expert identifies the AI tools used.”
The consultation remains open for responses until 14 April 2026.
The many issues arising from the use of AI are of vital importance for all expert witnesses, and we strongly invite you to respond to the consultation. Please do complete this PDF or Word document and send the same to CJC.AI.consultation@judiciary.uk
We will of course be looking at the subject in depth at the Bond Solon Expert Witness Conference.