Regulation Tracker / South Africa
2026 Judiciary Conference Resolutions, Section 5 — Information Communication Technology, Digitisation and Artificial Intelligence
South African Judiciary (2026 Judiciary Conference, Umhlanga, Durban)
last revised 2026-07-16last verified 2026-09-041 versioncountry page →
country page →PolicyIn forceSupervisionCompetenceRecord-keepingVerification duty
map categories:Judges' use of AIAI barred from deciding casesCourts' own AI deploymentMandatory AI trainingVendor due diligenceClient data in AI tools
Resolutions adopted by the South African Judiciary on 16 July 2026. Section 5 directs the Judiciary Administration and Information Technology Steering Committee to finalise the draft judiciary AI policy, requires the Judiciary to retain governance over AI procurement and deployment, restricts initial AI use to efficiency tools, and mandates ongoing judicial education on responsible AI use.
- Applies to
- judges, court-staff
- Effective
- See version history
- Current version
- Final adopted · 16 Jul 2026
- Last verified
- 04 Sept 2026
What the document requires
- 5.2 — the Steering Committee is to finalise the Draft Policy on Artificial Intelligence for adoption, defining with greater specificity the permissible and prohibited uses of AI and the distinction between administrative and adjudicative functions, to safeguard confidentiality and the integrity of the administration of justice.
- 5.3 — the Judiciary is to retain ownership and governance over the development, procurement and use of AI systems, keeping human oversight, judicial reasoning and judicial determination central, with training data reflecting South Africa's constitutional values.
- 5.4 — AI should be leveraged through customised and secure platforms, initially for court recording and transcription, translation, case management and document summarisation.
- 5.5 — the Judiciary should provide ongoing education on responsible AI use, including prompt design and verification, while maintaining legal research, analytical, reasoning and judgment-writing skills.
- 5.1 — modernisation of court infrastructure, integrated case management and electronic filing, supported by cybersecurity and ICT capacity.
Version history
| Version | Date | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final adoptedcurrent | 2026-07-16 | Adopted at the 2026 Judiciary Conference held in Umhlanga, Durban, 13–16 July 2026. | official |
Sources
Cite this record
SafeLegalAI Legal AI Regulation Tracker, "2026 Judiciary Conference Resolutions, Section 5 — Information Communication Technology, Digitisation and Artificial Intelligence" (South African Judiciary (2026 Judiciary Conference, Umhlanga, Durban), Final adopted, 2026-07-16), safelegalai.com/regulation/south-africa/za-judiciary-conference-2026-resolutions-ai (accessed 2026-09-04). Data: CC BY 4.0.
More official documents in South Africa
- Revised Ethics Guidelines for Legal Practitioners in South Africa on the Use of Generative AI · LSSA AI Committee
- Draft South Africa National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy (published GN 3880 of 2026; withdrawn by Notice 3978 of 2026) · DCDT
- Draft Policy on Artificial Intelligence for the Judiciary in South Africa · OCJ