CPS Prosecutor Cites AI-Generated Fake Case in High Court
Ravinder Dhillon of the Crown Prosecution Service cited a nonexistent legal precedent generated by AI during a High Court dispute involving an 11-year-old boy.
A senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cited a fictional legal precedent during a High Court dispute regarding the prosecution of an 11-year-old boy. Ravinder Dhillon used a nonexistent case, CPS – R v J [2024] EWCA Crim 3529, which was generated by an AI response during an internet search.
Dhillon admitted the error in October, stating she intended to reference a real decision from 15 years earlier. The High Court determined that the hallucinated citation did not change the outcome of the boy's legal challenge. However, legal experts described the incident as a serious failure.
The CPS conducted an internal review following the incident, which marks the second known instance of the agency using nonexistent legal authorities likely caused by AI. The agency subsequently reminded its staff that case law must be cited from trusted legal sources.
