By Mandere Onyinkwa
A High Court recently set aside a judgment delivered on December 23, 2025, after it emerged that pleadings in the case had been generated using artificial intelligence, raising fresh questions about the role of technology in the country’s legal system.
In the ruling delivered at the Milimani High Court in Nairobi, the court found that the use of AI tools in drafting legal pleadings undermines fairness and the integrity of judicial processes.
The case—Nayan Mansukhlal Savla vs the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman)—has now become a landmark moment in Kenya’s evolving relationship with artificial intelligence.
The court emphasized that legal pleadings in Kenya are governed by established rules, specifically Order 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules, and warned against the use of unregulated tools in legal drafting.
“The drafting of pleadings in Kenya is regulated by Order 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules,” the court noted.
It further held that the introduction of AI into such a critical process creates an uneven playing field between litigants.
“The generation of pleadings through unknown tools or artificial intelligence gives an unfair advantage to the person drafting using such tools. This amounts to an affront to access to justice as guaranteed under Article 48 of the Constitution,” the ruling stated.
According to the court, the adversarial nature of Kenya’s legal system depends on fairness and equal footing between opposing parties—conditions that may be compromised by advanced technologies not yet recognized in law.
“Drafting pleadings using artificial tools unknown to the Civil Procedure Rules… gives such a user or litigant an unfair advantage over their rival in an adversarial system,” the judge observed.
The decision to nullify the earlier judgment underscores the judiciary’s cautious stance on emerging technologies, particularly in the absence of a clear legal framework governing their use.
However, the court acknowledged that Kenya is gradually moving toward embracing artificial intelligence, hinting that the current position may evolve.
“Kenya is currently working towards legally embracing artificial intelligence. Once legislators come up with an appropriate framework, then artificial intelligence will form part of our laws,” the court added.
The ruling is likely to spark debate within legal and technology circles, especially as AI tools become increasingly accessible and widely used in professional settings.
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