ObligationApplicablev1.0.0

Article 86: right to an explanation of a decision

A person affected by a decision that a deployer takes on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III may request an explanation of the role of that system in the decision-making procedure and of the main elements of the decision taken.

The official source remains authoritative. This is general information about obligations and not legal advice. See this object on the map

Address and citation

This object has an address of its own that is never renamed or reused. Store the identifier in your own file, not the title or the link.

Identifier: praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation
Payload hash (sha256): fdff4b46310b77efe7995b1f93427a199d0ce4ca2d3d59ce4cb9db0cc640944c

Citation line

Praxikon, "Article 86: right to an explanation of a decision", praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation@1.0.0, dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0), effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z, sha256 fdff4b46310b77efe7995b1f93427a199d0ce4ca2d3d59ce4cb9db0cc640944c

Version: 1.0.0
Legal time (effective_at): 2 August 2026
Knowledge time (known_at): 14 August 2026
Closed on: Not closed
Application date: 2 August 2026
Topics: fundamental-rights

Review status: Placed against the official source (14 August 2026). Next check due by 10 February 2027. The check date is the knowledge date of this version; no later recheck has been recorded.

Who must act and who is affected

On an obligation the addressee is recorded separately from the party that is merely affected. That difference decides who a supervisory authority addresses and who has work to do without the duty resting on them.

Duty holder

Deployerpraxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:deployer

Affected actor

Not recorded on this object.

Oversight

Not recorded on this object.

Evidence owner

Deployerpraxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:deployer

What this object links to

Every relation appears below as a path: from the source with its locator, through the conditions and exceptions of the object carrying the relation, to the consequence. A locator belongs to a statement in the data and not to a relation, so the source is the source anchor of the carrying object.

Who carries the duty

1 of 1 shown

The duty rests on this role. A supervisory authority addresses this role when it is not met.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allApplies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.
- ExceptionParagraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.
As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.
Consequence
- ActorDeployer
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:deployer

Who owns the evidence

1 of 1 shown

This duty holder creates, maintains and can produce the evidence.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allApplies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.
- ExceptionParagraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.
As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.
Consequence
- ActorDeployer
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:actor:deployer

What has to be done

1 of 1 shown

This is what concretely has to be done under the obligation.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allApplies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.
- ExceptionParagraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.
As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.
Consequence
- ActionSet up how you handle a request for an explanation
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:action:handle-explanation-requests

What has to be recorded

1 of 1 shown

This is what has to be in the file to show that the action was carried out.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allApplies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.
- ExceptionParagraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.
As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.
Consequence
- EvidenceRegister of requests for an explanation
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:evidence:explanation-request-record

What keeps it in place

1 of 1 shown

This is what keeps compliance in place over time, periodic or event-driven.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allApplies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.
- ExceptionParagraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.
As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.
Consequence
- ControlRouting and deadline tracking of a request for an explanation
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:control:explanation-request-routing

Public tools

1 of 1 shown

This is the public route a reader can actually use.

Source
Official fact on this object, with its locator.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allApplies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.
- ExceptionParagraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.
As long as this exception is not ruled out, the outcome stays conditional and you have to establish it yourself.
Consequence
- TemplateFull text of Article 86
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:template:article-86-legal-text

What points at this object

Objects hanging off this obligation

4 of 4 shown

The object belongs to this obligation. The source line it hangs off sits there.

Source
This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
- Condition | allTo be set up before an Annex III system contributes to decisions about natural persons, and to be revisited on every change to that decision process.
Relation recorded on: Set up how you handle a request for an explanation
Consequence
- ActionSet up how you handle a request for an explanation
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:action:handle-explanation-requests
Source
This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 85
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Relation recorded on: Routing and deadline tracking of a request for an explanation
Consequence
- ControlRouting and deadline tracking of a request for an explanation
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:control:explanation-request-routing
Source
This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 85
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Relation recorded on: Register of requests for an explanation
Consequence
- EvidenceRegister of requests for an explanation
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:evidence:explanation-request-record
Source
This object carries no official fact of its own. The source line below sits on the obligation it hangs off; the link itself is recorded editorially.
- EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024/1689
  Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689
  Open official source
Via
No condition or exception recorded on this object.
Relation recorded on: Full text of Article 86
Consequence
- TemplateFull text of Article 86
  praxikon:eu:ai-act:template:article-86-legal-text

What this object states

Official fact

Attributable to a named primary source, with a locator. Where they differ, the official source prevails.

Paragraph 1 gives any affected person subject to a decision taken by the deployer on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way that they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights, the right to obtain from the deployer clear and meaningful explanations of the role of the AI system in the decision-making procedure and of the main elements of the decision taken. Paragraph 2 provides that paragraph 1 does not apply to the use of AI systems for which exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 provides that this Article applies only to the extent that the right referred to in paragraph 1 is not otherwise provided for under Union law.
- Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689Open official source

Our interpretation

Our own reading. It can change without the law changing, and it is not the position of a supervisory authority.

This right reaches you through a different channel than the rest of the Regulation. A regulator writes to you; a candidate or a citizen calls or emails, usually at your existing complaints or objections desk. That desk does not know today that an AI system was in the process, let alone what role it played, and that is where it goes wrong. Two things therefore matter more than the legal depth of the explanation itself: that your front line recognises such a request, and that it can be traced per decision which system in which version contributed to it. Without the second you can explain how your system works in general but not what happened in this case, and the latter is what is being asked. Note also the relationship with Article 22 GDPR: where that article already grants a right, Article 86 steps back, but the scope differs enough that you cannot settle the question in the abstract.
- Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689Open official source

Recommended step

A practical step we consider appropriate. Not an obligation following from the Regulation.

Record, per Annex III system that contributes to decisions about people, which decision was supported by which system version, and make sure your complaints or objections desk recognises a request for an explanation and routes it to someone who can answer it. Also determine per process whether Article 22 GDPR already grants a right, because Article 86 then steps back.
- Locator: Article 86(1)-(3)praxikon:eu:ai-act:source:reg-eu-2024-1689Open official source

When this applies

1Applies where a deployer takes a decision about a natural person on the basis of the output of a high-risk AI system listed in Annex III, with the exception of point 2 of that Annex, and that decision produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects that person in a way they consider to have an adverse impact on their health, safety or fundamental rights.

When this does not apply

Paragraph 2 excludes the right for AI systems where exceptions from, or restrictions to, that obligation follow from Union or national law in compliance with Union law. Paragraph 3 further limits the right to cases where it is not otherwise provided for under Union law, which makes the boundary with Article 22 GDPR a case-by-case question.

Referring to this object

Citation block

Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.

Reference

Praxikon, "Article 86: right to an explanation of a decision",
praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation@1.0.0,
dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0),
effective_at 2026-08-02T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z,
sha256 fdff4b46310b77efe7995b1f93427a199d0ce4ca2d3d59ce4cb9db0cc640944c,
https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/obligation/article-86-right-to-explanation
(https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-86-right-to-explanation&effective_at=2026-08-02&known_at=2026-08-14&lang=en, accessed 2026-08-25)

Short form

praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation@1.0.0 (sha256 fdff4b46)

BibTeX

@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-obligation-article-86-right-to-explanation-1-0-0,
  author       = {{Praxikon}},
  title        = {Article 86: right to an explanation of a decision},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.0.0},
  number       = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation},
  howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.1.0, schema 1.4.0},
  note         = {effective_at 2026-08-02T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 fdff4b46310b77efe7995b1f93427a199d0ce4ca2d3d59ce4cb9db0cc640944c},
  url          = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/obligation/article-86-right-to-explanation},
  urldate      = {2026-08-25},
  language     = {en}
}

CSL JSON

[
  {
    "id": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation@1.0.0",
    "type": "dataset",
    "title": "Article 86: right to an explanation of a decision",
    "container-title": "AI Act Change & Evidence Graph",
    "publisher": "Praxikon",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "number": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-86-right-to-explanation",
    "URL": "https://www.praxikon.com/en/verkenner/obligation/article-86-right-to-explanation",
    "language": "en",
    "issued": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          8,
          14
        ]
      ]
    },
    "accessed": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          8,
          25
        ]
      ]
    },
    "note": "dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0; schema 1.4.0; effective_at 2026-08-02T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 fdff4b46310b77efe7995b1f93427a199d0ce4ca2d3d59ce4cb9db0cc640944c; retrieved_from https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-86-right-to-explanation&effective_at=2026-08-02&known_at=2026-08-14&lang=en; licence https://www.praxikon.com/nl/legal/terms"
  }
]

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