Master of the Rolls says lawyers must help shape machine-age justice

Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, has delivered a major speech on artificial intelligence and the judiciary. Speaking at the Judicial Institute for Scotland on 30 April 2026, he argued that AI will fundamentally reshape how justice is delivered.

The speech, published by the Judiciary on 5 May, sets out Vos’s view that lawyers and judges must actively shape the use of AI in the justice system rather than let technology develop without professional input.

AI in every aspect of legal work

Vos made clear his view that

and judicial work. He said the technology would speed up legal processes and allow justice to be delivered more quickly and at more proportionate cost.

He reiterated his three core rules for AI in the legal profession: understand what a large language model does before using it, avoid putting private data into a public LLM, and always check the output before relying on it for any purpose.

Human oversight and judicial decision-making

A central theme of the speech was that judicial decision-making is different from other types of decision-making. Vos argued that a final judicial decision is a citizen’s last chance to assert their rights. Citizens should only give up the right to human judicial decisions in favour of machine-made ones with fully informed consent and after proper legislative debate.

He gave five reasons why humans will remain important to justice in the machine age, drawing on his earlier talk to the Association of Law Lecturers in Exeter on 17 April 2026.

Why It Matters

This speech is highly relevant to solicitors, litigators, legal technologists and students. It signals the judiciary’s direction of travel on AI and digital justice. Practitioners advising on technology adoption, litigation strategy and access to justice should take note of both the opportunities Vos identifies and the constitutional safeguards he considers essential.

The regulatory landscape

Vos addressed the regulatory position, noting that Article 14 of the EU’s AI Act classifies justice systems as high-risk, requiring human oversight. Article 22 of the GDPR restricts automated decisions affecting legal rights. He also raised the question of whether a machine could ever meet the standard of an independent or impartial tribunal under Article 6 of the ECHR.

He suggested these provisions will be worked out over time and may themselves be subject to amendment as the debate matures.

What this means for practitioners

The speech reinforces the expectation that lawyers will need to engage with AI tools responsibly. Vos has previously suggested that failing to use AI where it offers clear advantages could raise competence questions.

For students and junior lawyers, the speech underlines that AI literacy is becoming a core professional skill. Understanding both the practical applications and the ethical boundaries of AI in legal work will be increasingly important.the speech in full on the Judiciary website