An artificial intelligence-generated image of a courtroom (ChatGPT) Bills proposed in South Korea’s National Assembly on Friday seek to penalize litigants and lawyers for submitting court documents containing fabricated case citations, amid growing concern about AI-generated errors appearing in legal filings.Rep. Lee Sung-yoon of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed revisions to the Civil Procedure Act and the Criminal Procedure Act that would impose fines of up to 5 million won ($3,270) on plaintiffs, representatives or lawyers who submit court documents citing fabricated precedents or nonexistent case numbers.According to Lee, the bills are intended to address a problem that can delay court proceedings, waste judicial resources and undermine litigants’ right to receive timely judgments.While submitting forged evidence can already be punished under existing criminal provisions, including those covering false accusations or fraud, there is currently no specific legal basis for penalizing court documents that contain fabricated precedents or nonexistent case numbers, Lee said.The issue has drawn attention as more people use artificial intelligence tools to draft legal documents. Local media have reported that such errors have appeared not only in lawsuits filed without legal representation but also in documents prepared by practicing lawyers.In April, the Seoul High Court noted in a ruling involving a lease deposit return dispute that several precedents cited in an appeal brief did not exist.The Supreme Court is also preparing countermeasures.In March, a task force under the National Court Administration proposed requiring parties responsible for delays caused by fake case citations to bear the resulting litigation costs. It also proposed referring lawyers who submit such documents to the Korean Bar Association for possible disciplinary action.