On 3 September 2026 the president of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, signed order no. 59-P (59-П). It brings artificial intelligence into the whole judicial process of the country. It is one of the most detailed national programmes published to date on the use of AI in courts: it defines in writing the collaboration between a person who judges and a machine that assists them.
The text is not about technology. It is about roles. Here is what it establishes.
Who decides. AI is defined as an auxiliary tool. The final decision always rests with the judge, who verifies the results the systems produce. The stated aim is to raise the efficiency of the courts “with the unconditional preservation of the key role of the judge”.
What the machine does. It accompanies the case from beginning to end. It transcribes hearings, recognises who is speaking, translates in real time. It analyses the case file, searches for precedents, flags contradictions in the evidence. It prepares drafts of rulings. It offers the judge statistics on the sentences handed down in similar cases.
How the judge must behave. The machine's suggestion must not become the “default choice”. If the judge decides not to follow it, they must give reasons.
What is forbidden. Analysing judges on the basis of their decisions: in the analyses they are anonymous.
What is owed to those on trial. The right to know that AI was used in their proceedings and to contest its conclusions. Lawyers are asked to declare the use of AI in the documents they file; false references to laws and rulings are sanctionable.
What the text admits about itself. Of the twelve risks listed, two are rated high probability and very high impact: the model's hallucinations, that is, laws and rulings that do not exist, and cyberattacks. Every answer of the machine must point to a source. Every interaction is recorded.
Timing and targets. The trial began on 26 May 2026 in ten regions and expanded to twenty-one on 26 August. In the first phase more than 6,900 hours of hearings were transcribed. All courts will have access to the services by the second quarter of 2027. By 2030 more than 95% of judges will use these tools on a permanent basis, between 30% and 50% of drafts will be generated by the machine, and at least 80% of those drafts will have to be approved without substantive changes.
The stated vision. Speaking to colleagues from the BRICS countries, Krasnov said that the court is not an algorithm: it must remain centred on the person and use technology as a means, not as an end of justice.
A judge and a machine working together, with the tasks divided in writing: this is the passage we want to tell. The full legal analysis, with the comparison with European and Italian rules, is on whitecollarcrimes.it.
Source: Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, order no. 59-P of 3 September 2026, with annexes. Further reading: “Il giudice assistito” (in Italian), whitecollarcrimes.it, 27 September 2026.
Inga Santa Maria · Milan, October 2026