Lawyers Warned Over AI-Drafted Court Papers
Mathews Phosa cautioned legal practitioners against using AI to draft court documents without verifying the content.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Mathews Phosa warned lawyers against using artificial intelligence to draft court papers without verification, speaking at the Future of Law Conference hosted by LexisNexis in Sandton, Johannesburg. The warning follows recent judgments in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in which lawyers cited non-existent case law.
Why it matters
AI tools can generate citations to case law that does not exist, which can mislead courts and undermine the integrity of legal proceedings. Judges reported the practitioners involved to the Legal Practice Council for using AI without disclosing it in court.
Two recent judgments, one in Gauteng and one in KwaZulu-Natal, identified lawyers who cited case law that does not exist. The number of practitioners reported to the Legal Practice Council and the outcome of those referrals have not been disclosed.
The players
Mathews Phosa
Mathews Phosa is a former Premier of Mpumalanga and a prominent South African public figure, who spoke at the Future of Law Conference on the risks of AI in legal practice.
Legal Practice Council
The Legal Practice Council is the statutory body that regulates legal practitioners in South Africa and received the reports of lawyers who used AI without disclosure.
Black Lawyers Association
The Black Lawyers Association is a professional body representing Black legal practitioners in South Africa and has publicly warned about the reckless use of AI in legal work.
The details
Judges were able to detect the discrepancies when writing their judgments, and Judge Ingrid Opperman delivered a judgment on an acting judge who cited non-existent law or incorrect cases. A judicial committee is developing a policy to regulate how judges may use AI, while the Legal Practice Council and the Black Lawyers Association have warned about reckless use of the technology.
Timeline
Recently: two judgments in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal cited fake case law.
This year: Judge Opperman delivered judgment on the acting judge's AI-linked errors.
3 November 2026: Phosa addressed the Future of Law Conference in Sandton.
Big Picture
South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act and Cybercrimes Act already set safeguards for how digital systems handle data, and the current court-filing errors show that these frameworks do not yet address the accuracy of AI-generated legal citations. The judicial policy now being drafted would be the first to address that gap directly.
Practitioners who use AI tools to draft court papers must verify every citation before filing, as unverified references can lead to referral to the Legal Practice Council. Members of the public relying on legal advice should ask whether the lawyer has checked the authorities cited.
The takeaway
Any AI-assisted legal document must be checked against primary sources before it is filed with a court. Verification is the practitioner's responsibility, not the software's.
Further reading
Explore more Artificial Intelligence coverage from South Africa.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Business Day.
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