Prosecutor cites a made-up case in England's High Court after AI search
A senior Crown Prosecution Service lawyer cited a legal case that does not exist in a High Court dispute, according to The Guardian. The paper understands the fake case came from an AI answer in an internet search. The CPS says it fixed the error and reviewed how it happened.
Ravinder Dhillon, a senior crown prosecutor, referred to the made-up case in a dispute over whether a boy should be prosecuted for the alleged rape of his younger sister, The Guardian reports, citing court papers.
The boy was 11 at the time of the alleged offense, the paper says. His lawyers were challenging the CPS decision to prosecute him.
Dhillon cited a case she called CPS – R v J [2024] EWCA Crim 3529, which turned out not to exist, The Guardian reports. In October she admitted the citation was an error and said she had meant a real ruling made 15 years earlier.
Two senior High Court judges called her explanation “unsatisfactory,” the paper says. The court said the error did not change the outcome of the boy's challenge. His case is listed for trial in the youth courts later this week.
“This was used as a legal source to argue for the prosecution of a child and that legal source doesn't exist: that's a serious failure,” said Brian Flanagan, a law professor at Maynooth University, according to The Guardian.
It is only the second known case involving the CPS, the paper reports. The agency admitted in February that one of its lawyers cited legal authorities that did not exist in an extradition case.
The latest case brings a UK tracker of AI-related court errors kept by barrister Matthew Lee to 101 entries, The Guardian says. He said the cases may be the “tip of the iceberg.”
Only The Guardian has reported this so far, and NewsHabit hasn't seen independent confirmation.
What we know: A CPS prosecutor cited a case that does not exist, and the agency says it fixed the error.
What we don't: Whether the prosecutor will face any action. No second outlet has confirmed the report yet.
Where outlets agree This is one outlet's report, with The Guardian citing High Court documents in the case.
Where they differ The CPS says its strict AI policy requires human checks and that it remedied the error and ran an internal review, while Flanagan calls the citation a serious failure, The Guardian reports.