What You Need to Know About the Federal Court AI Requirements

The Federal Court of Canada recently introduced new guidelines that all parties involved in litigation need to be aware of, especially when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in preparing legal documents. Here are some key takeaways, with a link to the full notice below:

Mandatory AI Disclosure

If you’re using AI to create or generate content for any document submitted to the Court, it’s now mandatory to disclose this in the very first paragraph. This is part of the Court’s effort to maintain transparency and ensure all parties understand how AI has been utilized in the legal process.

Here is their provided example of what disclosure could look like:

Declaration

Artificial intelligence (AI) was used to generate content in this document.

Depending on the type of document and the way AI was used to prepare it, you may or may not want to provide more specific information on how it was used, and/or limit it to where it was used.

For example, if you only used AI for a portion of your document, you may include something like “Artificial intelligence (AI) was used to generate paragraphs 3 to 6 in this document.”

Who Does This Apply To?

These requirements apply to all documents submitted to the Federal Court for litigation purposes. However, they do not extend to Certified Tribunal Records from third-party decision-makers.

They also only apply to AI that is generating new content. From the notice:

“This Notice does not apply to AI that lacks the creative ability to generate new content. For example, this Notice does not apply to AI that only follows pre-set instructions, including programs such as system automation, voice recognition, or document editing. It bears underscoring that this Notice only applies to content that was created or generated by AI.” 

Caution and Verification

The Court urges caution when using AI, particularly for generating legal references or analysis. It’s crucial to rely only on well-recognized and trusted sources, such as official court websites or reputable publishers. Additionally, any AI-generated content should be thoroughly checked by humans to ensure its accuracy and reliability before submission.

If you use Visto’s AI Copilot to generate document templates that will be submitted to the Federal Court, you may want to consider declaring this in the document template itself. This is a proactive step in practice management and risk mitigation, and Visto is actively working to help you understand all of the requirements and compliance necessary!

In summary, if you’re preparing documents for submission to the Federal Court for the purposes of litigation and considering using AI to prepare them, make sure you’re up to speed with these requirements to avoid any compliance issues.

To read the full notice, click here.

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