SC outlines AI use in court operations
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has approved the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across all levels of courts in the Philippines.
In a resolution dated Feb. 18, 2026 and posted online on March 19, the SC laid down the “Governance Framework on the Use of Human-Centered Augmented Intelligence in the Judiciary.”
Under the framework, AI tools can be used in preparing court-issued documents for adjudication, which includes voice-to-text transcription, translation, automated compilation or generation of structured authorities, citations or other paratext, legal research, document summarization, automated document processing including optical character recognition, copy-editing or proofreading and data redaction or sanitation in accordance with applicable laws and rules.
Any member of the judiciary, from the SC to the lower courts, as well as court users, vendors or third-party contractors involved in designing, developing or using AI tools for the judiciary, should be disclosed mandatorily.
The SC emphasized in its guidelines that AI is meant to assist human decision-making, not replace it.
“No AI tool may be used if it could harm stakeholders, violate rights or undermine the rule of law. AI tools or their outputs must not be the sole basis for any adjudicatory decision. Human decision-makers remain responsible for independent legal reasoning and final judgments that determine the rights and duties of parties,” the high tribunal said.
In addition, the SC will hold consultations with stakeholders to test AI tools, as well as enhance its own monitoring, auditing and cybersecurity to avoid over-reliance on external parties and safeguard against potential attacks.
“These principles support the ethical and responsible use of human-centered augmented intelligence tools in the Judiciary and reinforce the public’s faith and confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judicial system,” it added.
The guidelines on the use of AI in the judiciary were developed by a panel led by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, with Associate Justices Ramon Paul Hernando and Rodil Zalameda as vice chairs — EJ Macababbad
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