Istanbul court case sparks debate over AI-generated legal citations

A legal dispute in Istanbul has sparked debate over the use of artificial intelligence in court filings. During a 10 million lira negative declaratory lawsuit at the Istanbul Anadolu 9th Civil Court of First Instance, the defendant's attorney alleged that the plaintiff's petition contained fabricated legal precedents likely generated by AI.

The controversy centers on a cited Constitutional Court decision dated July 20, 2022, with application number 2018/1234. Upon review, it was determined that no such decision exists in the court's records. The defense argued that certain phrases in the petition, such as “This decision is exactly relevant to your situation,” appeared to be direct, unedited outputs from an AI tool rather than professional legal writing.

While the plaintiff's counsel denied the allegations, calling them baseless and malicious, the court issued a decision of non-jurisdiction without ruling on the merits of the AI usage claims. Legal experts have warned that AI tools can occasionally produce non-existent cases or citations, a phenomenon known as hallucination.