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Generative AI in courts: the rules and risks explained  

Are you using Generative AI (Gen AI) tools like ChatGPT to help you with everyday tasks or to find answers to common questions? If you answered yes, we are here to help you understand the potential legal risks.  

We understand Gen AI can save time by summarising key points or preparing written content, but you must take great care when using it for legal work or in court.  

In South Australia, there are guidelines that apply to using Gen AI in the Magistrates Court, District Court, Supreme Court, Youth Court, and Environment, Resources and Development Court. Other courts, such as the Family Court, have also released their own guides about the use of AI. These guides apply to lawyers, non-lawyers and people representing themselves in court.  

Can I upload documents into Gen AI systems?  

Yes, but you should take care before uploading information or documents into free or open AI systems. Anything you upload may be used to train the AI tool. This may result in your information being shared with other people or companies.  

While you may be happy to share your own information, sharing information or documents gained through court proceedings can get you in serious trouble with the court if they are confidential or legally required to remain secret. You could be ordered to pay a fine or the other side’s costs.  

Can I use AI to prepare legal content for use in court?  

Yes, but remember that Gen AI can make mistakes. Gen AI tools can give incorrect legal information and suggest laws, cases or principles that do not exist (known as “hallucinations”) or that are not recognised in South Australia.  

All court users, including lawyers, self-represented persons and witnesses, have a duty to provide only correct and accurate information to the court and to not deliberately mislead the court or waste its time.  

If you provide incorrect information or rely on fictional legal arguments, you risk:  

• annoying the judge and the other side by wasting their time
• losing your case, even if you may have had a good legal argument
• getting in serious trouble with the court and being ordered to pay a fine, the legal costs of the other side, and other costs 
• going to jail, if the judge thinks your behaviour is particularly serious.  

Using Gen AI to help prepare your case may not seem like a big deal, but it can have very real consequences. Many lawyers and court users across Australia have received very serious penalties for misusing it in the courtroom.  

To avoid a penalty, always check information and documents you have prepared with the help of Gen AI before providing them to the court or other side.  

Want to learn more? 

You can access the state court guidelines on the use of Gen AI, and a useful factsheet for self-representation, via the South Australian Courts Administration Authority website.  

If your case is in a different court, be sure to check their website or get in touch to find out if they have any specific rules.  

For free and confidential legal advice, call the Legal Helpline on 1300 366 424 Monday to Friday 9:00am to 4:30pm.  

For more information about the law in South Australia, read the Law Handbook or our range of publications.