Habib & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Why this matter warrants attention

Misrepresented: Case Law | AH (Sudan) was cited for a flexible approach to obtaining documents from countries with weak or disrupted state structures, but the Tribunal found that the case was not authority for that proposition. Outcome: Appeal dismissed; solicitors and counsel issued a notice to show cause concerning possible wasted costs and referral to the SRA/BSB. No professional sanction or monetary penalty was imposed in this decision.. The Upper Tribunal identified multiple incorrect, misleading, and apparently fabricated authorities in the appellants’ grounds of appeal and amended skeleton argument. It found that AH (Sudan), Matusha, and AA (Nigeria) did not support the propositions for which they were cited, and that the alleged quotation from Matusha did not appear in that judgment. Other citations appeared to correspond to unrelated cases or could not be located. The court considered that an AI large language model may have been used, but this was not established. It directed the solicitors and counsel to explain the drafting, any AI use, and their citation checks, reserving questions of wasted costs and regulatory referral.