Practice Direction HC 142: Responsible Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Court Documents

High Court of Ireland

last revised 2026-07-29last verified 2026-09-041 versioncountry page →

Practice direction / noteIn forceVerification dutyCertificationDisclosureProhibition

map categories:Disclosure of AI use in filings Duty to verify AI output Self-represented litigants Sanctions for AI misuse Supervision of AI work

Ireland's first court rule on AI, signed by the President of the High Court on 29 July 2026 and in operation from 1 September 2026. It covers all civil documents and requires independent human verification of every AI-assisted citation, a declaration in affidavits and witness statements that generative AI was not used for substantive content, and disclosure for expert reports.

Applies to: lawyers, litigants, parties
Effective: 01 Sept 2026
Current version: Signed 29 July 2026, in operation 1 September 2026 · 29 Jul 2026
Last verified: 04 Sept 2026
Official text: www.courts.ie/practice-directions/full-practice-direction?url=practice…

What the document requires

Applies to pleadings, submissions, affidavits, witness statements and expert reports prepared after 1 September 2026.
Every AI-assisted citation or proposition must be independently verified by a human; checking with another AI tool is insufficient.
Affidavits and witness statements must carry a declaration that generative AI was not used to generate substantive content.
Expert reports require a no-substantive-use declaration or disclosure of AI use.
Sanctions include rejection of documents, adverse or personal costs, strike-out and referral to the regulator.

Version history

Version	Date	What changed	Source
Signed 29 July 2026, in operation 1 September 2026current	2026-07-29	First version recorded.	official

Related court incidents on the record

Guerin v O'Doherty, [2026] IECA 482026-03-26 Dismissal
Von Geitz v Kelly & Ors; Von Geitz v Robertson & Ors, [2026] IECA 292026-03-16 Dismissal

Read our analysis: Ireland's AI guidance for lawyers and judges: the version record →

Sources

Courts Service of Ireland — Practice Direction HC 142

Cite this record

SafeLegalAI Legal AI Regulation Tracker, "Practice Direction HC 142: Responsible Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Court Documents" (High Court of Ireland, Signed 29 July 2026, in operation 1 September 2026, 2026-07-29), safelegalai.com/regulation/ireland/ireland-high-court-pd-hc142-generative-ai (accessed 2026-09-04). Data: CC BY 4.0.