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Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86)

By Updated

The right of a person affected by a deployer's decision based on an Annex III high-risk system's output, with legal or similarly significant adverse effects, to clear and meaningful explanations of the system's role and the main elements of the decision, where Union law does not already provide it 1.

Developed in
ch. 18, Explanation and notice to affected people
Chapters
ch. 16, Fairness & XAI · ch. 18, EU AI Act · ch. 19, Privacy & AI
Contrast with
Explainability
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

3 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86): mentions per chapter5 mentions of the term across 3 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapterCross-referenced, not named08 Regulatory Map: 1 mention08 Regulatory Map116 Fairness & XAI: 2 mentions16 Fairness & XAI218 EU AI Act: 2 mentions18 EU AI Act219 Privacy & AI0No mentions in the other 19 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86): mentions per chapter5 mentions of the term across 3 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapterCross-referenced, not named000102030405060708 Regulatory Map: 1 mention10810111213141516 Fairness & XAI: 2 mentions2161718 EU AI Act: 2 mentions2181920212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86) per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map1No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined0No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment0No
16 Fairness & XAI2Yes
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act2Yes
19 Privacy & AI0Yes
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No
Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86): related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastRight to explanation (AI Act Art. 86)Related terms (3)Annex III · RelatedAnnex IIIDeployer · RelatedDeployerExplanation record · RelatedExplanation recordContrast with (1)Explainability · ContrastExplainability
Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86): related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedContrastRelated terms (3)Annex III · RelatedAnnex IIIDeployer · RelatedDeployerExplanation record · RelatedExplanation recordContrast with (1)Explainability · ContrastExplainabilityRight toexplanation (AIAct Art. 86)
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86)
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsAnnex IIIRelated
Related termsDeployerRelated
Related termsExplanation recordRelated
Contrast withExplainabilityContrast
  • Explanation record

    The evidence artefact for one explained decision: model version, explanation method and version, baseline, reason codes, counterfactual, template, audience…

  • Annex III

    The AI Act annex listing high-risk use cases (biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, essential services, law enforcement, migration…

  • Deployer

    Under the EU AI Act, whoever uses an AI system under its own authority, other than in a purely personal, non-professional activity.

Sources

  1. [1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), consolidated text as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI, in force 27 Jul 2026; definitions in Art. 3, incl. 3(1), 3(3) to 3(14), 3(14b), 3(20), 3(22), 3(23), 3(29) to 3(32), 3(49), 3(55) to 3(57), 3(60), 3(61), 3(63), 3(68); Arts. 4, 5, 6 (incl. 6(3) third subparagraph, profiling), 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22 to 27 (incl. 26(11)), 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 50, 53 (incl. 53(1)(c)), 55, 57, 60, 72, 73, 86; Annexes I, III, IV). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2026-07-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86). In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/right-to-explanation-ai-act-art-86. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026righttoexplanationaiactart86,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Right to explanation (AI Act Art. 86)}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/right-to-explanation-ai-act-art-86}
}