A senior lawyer has apologised to a Victorian judge for filing submissions in a murder case that included fake quotes and non-existent case judgements generated by artificial intelligence (AI).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Rishi Nathwani, who holds the title of King\u2019s Counsel, took “full responsibility” for filing incorrect information in submissions in the case of a teenager charged with murder, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Friday.<\/p>\n
“We are deeply sorry and embarrassed for what occurred,” Mr Nathwani told Justice James Elliott on Wednesday, on behalf of the defence team.<\/p>\n
The AI-generated errors caused a 24-hour delay in resolving a case that Justice Elliott had hoped to conclude on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The submissions delayed the resolution in the case of a teenager charged with murder.\u00a0 (ABC News: Alexandra Alvaro)<\/p>\n
He later ruled on Thursday that Mr Nathwani\u2019s client, who cannot be identified because he is a minor, was not guilty of murder because of mental impairment.<\/p>\n
“At the risk of understatement, the manner in which these events have unfolded is unsatisfactory,” Justice Elliott told lawyers on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“The ability of the court to rely upon the accuracy of submissions made by counsel is fundamental to the due administration of justice.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The fake submissions included fabricated quotes from a speech to the state legislature and non-existent case citations purportedly from the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The errors were discovered by the Justice’s associates, who couldn\u2019t find the cases and requested that defence lawyers provide copies.<\/p>\n
The lawyers admitted the citations “do not exist” and that the submission contained “fictitious quotes”, court documents say.<\/p>\n
The lawyers explained they checked that the initial citations were accurate and wrongly assumed the others would also be correct.<\/p>\n