UK Jurisdiction Taskforce launches consultation on liability for AI harms

On 15 January 2026, the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce launched a public consultation on its draft Legal Statement addressing liability for AI harms in English private law.  This follows a speech by the Master of the Rolls launching the project in 2025, calling it “an example of English law jurisdictional leadership“.  Henderson Chambers’ Lucy McCormick is one of the authors of the legal statement.

The over-arching question that the Legal Statement seeks to address is in what circumstances, and on what legal bases, English common law will impose liability for loss that results from the use of AI.  The primary focus in addressing that question is on the liability of those who did not deliberately cause harm.  English law generally has means of ensuring legal redress against deliberate wrongdoers, and the fact that AI may have been used as a tool to inflict deliberate harm is unlikely in most circumstances to affect the legal analysis.  At the heart of the Legal Statement, therefore, is an analysis of the application of the law of negligence to physical and economic harms caused by AI.  In addition, the Legal Statement addresses the following questions:

• Does the principle of vicarious liability apply to loss caused by AI?
• In what circumstances can a professional be liable for using or failing to use AI in the provision of their services? If AI used in the provision of professional services produces erroneous output, is the professional liable for loss resulting from the error?
• Can a person ever be liable for harms caused by use of AI where there is no fault on their part?
• Does liability attach to false statements made by an AI chatbot?

Lawyers and stakeholders are invited to respond to the consultation by 13 February 2026.  A virtual consultation event is taking place on 27 January 2026.

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