Fake Law, Real Trouble: The Risks Of AI Errors In Court Submissions

The recent Ontario Superior Court decision, Halton (Regional Municipality) v. Rewa et al., 2025 ONSC 4503 ("Halton v. Rewa"), demonstrates growing judicial concern regarding the use of artificial intelligence ("AI") in the courtroom. In the criminal case of Halton v. Rewa,a self-represented defendant, Mr. Rewa, relied on non-existent cases generated by AI in his submissions to the Court. Concern arose specifically with respect to Mr. Rewa's use of AI, which when used to draft court documents, can waste judicial resources at the cost to those who submitted them.

AI-Generated Submissions: "Let's see if I get caught"

Mr. Rewa admitted to using AI to generate his materials and cited his inability to hire counsel and the resulting challenges of being a self-represented litigant. The judge identified several fabricated authorities irrelevant to the legal issues cited in the defendant's submissions as "typical examples of AI-generated arguments and AI hallucination",