UK Law Society urges principled AI rules: human-rights focus

The Law Society submitted written and oral evidence to the House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights and published a Westminster update on 22 December 2025, calling for a principled AI regulatory approach that prioritises human-rights safeguards, clearer definitions, and steps to prevent regulatory fragmentation. (Law Society; UK Parliament)

The Society warned that inconsistent domestic rules and vague definitions create legal uncertainty for lawyers and clients and could amplify harms in high-risk use cases. It urged the government to require human-rights impact assessments, align domestic definitions where feasible, and draw practical lessons from the EU AI Act to reduce divergence and lower compliance costs. (Law Society AI & lawtech policy; uncorrected parliamentary oral evidence)

The Law Society presents these measures as practical safeguards to protect individual rights while keeping legal services operational. It asked the Committee to recommend proportional, rights-based rules instead of a sector-by-sector patchwork. The Committee will consider submissions as it prepares recommendations to government.

Why It Matters

• Clarify definitions: consistent AI definitions reduce legal risk for firms and speed compliance work for legal-tech vendors.
• Human-rights impact assessments: mandating assessments for high-risk systems forces early risk mitigation, documents exposure, and helps preserve client rights.
• Regulatory alignment: using lessons from the EU AI Act can cut cross-border compliance costs, reduce fragmentation, and simplify obligations for UK legal services and vendors.