By ChidinmaEwunonu-Aluko

Some Ibadan based lawyers  have warned against the abuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) stressing its inability to exercise judicial conscience in legal practice.

According to them, fictitious AI-generated cases for instance, breaches ethics and amounts to professional misconduct punishable with sanctions.

The lawyers spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Ibadan.

In his submission, Mr Oluseun Abimbola, a former Oyo Attorney-General and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said citing suspicious authorities, breached Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC).

Abimbola added that the practice aimed at confusing the court.
He recounted that sparingly, he was aware of counsel citing suspicious authorities in his years of practice.

The SAN noted that less diligent judges who failed to fact-check, might be deceived by such citations.

He however remarked that in the past, he had appeared before most judges, who had found it necessary to fact-check citations, to guide their rulings and orders.

“Judges reprimand such counsel and may take further sanctions against the erring counsel too,” Abimbola said.

On when unverified AI citation became a punishable misconduct, the former attorney general said it became actionable once presented.

“It is actionable against the counsel citing it, once such a citation is presented to the court, whether orally or in a brief, found to be AI generated and a wrong citation,” he said.

Abimbola said a judge may summarily sanction such counsel in cost, or referred the matter to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for investigation and possible sanction.

On whether judges should impose personal costs like the U.S. courts in Avianca case, the SAN agreed.

“Costs against the counsel as was done in the Avianca case and later cases, are in my opinion, in order and may vary in quantum, to deter such negligent behaviour,” Abimbola said.

He described personal cost as minimal sanction for failure to verify AI-generated authorities.

The SAN warned that recurrent reliance may be seen as intentional deception, not negligence.

He said where mere cost may not suffice, full LPDC proceedings with higher sanction may be considered.

Abimbola however noted that such practice was rare in Nigeria, but that the advent of AI may escalate it.

“Nevertheless, in our clime, it is rare to find such a practice in my experience. It is noted that the advent of AI intrusion, may however escalate this, hence the need for counsel verification,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Adekola Kareem, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ibadan branch, said the use of AI for legal research was not prevalent among members.

Kareem noted  that lawyers in the city were largely indifferent to AI.

According to him, only a few lawyers deploy AI for legal research and litigation.

“We still rely on books, research books; I mean law reports and trial books. So it is  not prevalent in Ibadan at all,” Kareem said.

The Ibadan branch chairman disclosed that the association had concluded plans to organise a seminar on ethical use of AI.

According to him, the association has engaged a research fellow and consultant on AI for the programme.

The NBA chairman said the consultant would make presentation at the next meeting of the branch.

On whether RPC should be amended to specifically address AI-related misconduct, the he said existing rules were adequate.
Kareem stressed that any lawyer who misled the court with fabricated authorities, was culpable.

“If you mislead the courts, that means you have committed professional misconduct and that person is liable to punishment by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC),” the chairman stated.

Recall that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, had explicitly stated that while technology was an instrument of justice, it could never replace the duty of judges.

The CJN explained that while AI and other emerging technologies were reshaping the administration of justice, they could  never replace the constitutional duty of judges to determine legal rights and obligations.

On his part, another legal practitioner and political analyst, Mr Oluwatobi Fatoki, said Nigerian courts possessed sufficient institutional tools and judicial knowledge, to detect fake AI authorities.

Fatoki remarked that the age-long principle that a lawyer may not know all the law, but must know where to find it, remained mandatory.

The analyst explained that courts do not accept authorities, hook, line and sinker.

“After all the lawyers were done inside the courtroom, they fall back to the chambers to study, marshal the points together, before forming a decision,” Fatoki explained.

The legal practitioner added that judges had research assistants and court researchers to verify citations.

“So, if it is a fabricated case, the judge will know,” the political analyst noted.

According to Fatoki, judges routinely direct counsel to produce certified true copies of authorities cited.

He added that the front-loading system under High Court Rules, was an additional safeguard.

The analyst said superior courts subscribed to electronic law reports such as LawPavilion, Legalpedia and Nigerian Weekly Law Reports (NWLR) to verify citations.

Fatoki however noted that many lower and customary courts, still lacked such access, making detection harder.

Aligning with the CJN, the analyst said AI could not exercise judicial conscience.

“AI cannot exercise judicial conscience. AI in the legal space is a guiding tool, not a tool that dispenses the exact mind of the courts.

“The mind of a judge, like the intestine of a man, cannot be known by AI,” he added.

On legal education, Fatoki advocated for a compulsory AI literacy in law faculties’ curriculum.

The Ibadan-based lawyer warned against abuse by lawyers who inserted clients’ briefs into AI, to generate processes without verification.

A young lawyer, Mrs Funmilola Onalaja, said she personally does not use AI to draft court processes.

Onalaja, a Legal Associate at Mondial Solicitors, added that she would not make assumptions about colleagues’ work practices.

She noted that the cost of accessing legal databases posed challenges for some lawyers.

Onalaja added that the convenience of AI could  make it tempting to accept information without verification.

She said practical training on the correct use of AI could help young lawyers avoid hallucination. (NAN)
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Edited by Chinyere Nwachukwu