Nikolic & Anor v Nationwide News Pty Ltd & Anor
SC Victoria · May 23, 2025
- Jurisdiction
- international
- Court
- SC Victoria
- Record ID
- nikolic-anor-v-nationwide-news-pty-ltd-anor-2025-05-23
- Observed outcome
- The Court ordered the plaintiffs to pay the respondents' costs on an indemnity basis, fixed as a gross sum.
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
Why this matter warrants attention
The Supreme Court of Victoria identified three fabricated or misattributed legal authorities in the plaintiffs' submissions, which the Court attributed to AI-generated research. The Court did not issue a specific sanction for the hallucinations themselves but awarded indemnity costs to the respondents, noting the plaintiffs' persistent reliance on baseless arguments and non-existent case law.
The Court reasoned that the plaintiffs' reliance on non-existent authorities and their failure to verify citations, despite registry requests, demonstrated a lack of merit. The Court concluded that the applications were manifestly hopeless, justifying an award of indemnity costs to the respondents to avoid further protracted litigation and taxation disputes.
Victoria Supreme Court treated three AI-fabricated authorities from pro-se plaintiffs as non-existent; no sanction but credibility destroyed.
Failure modes and consequences
- Hallucinated_case_law
- Misattributed_citation
- Pro Se
- Fake Citations
- Tort
- Trial
- AI attribution
- Implied
- Recorded tool
- AI (implied, unspecified)
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
- Procedural posture
- Costs determination following the dismissal of applications for leave to appeal.
Damien Charlotin case archive
Publisher document archive. The recorded document is hosted in the upstream publisher archive.
Open underlying sourceA recorded source link is not a substitute for checking the underlying order, filing, opinion, or disciplinary record.
What this record does—and does not—establish
The Court identified citations as likely AI-generated.
The record summarizes the outcome described in the linked public source. The recorded document is hosted in the upstream publisher archive. This page is not a substitute for the complete docket, subsequent history, or jurisdiction-specific advice.
Latest evidence review: Primary Document Verified (high confidence).
Controls suggested by the public record
- Verify the existence, citation, court, and precedential status of every authority before filing.
- Apply the same source-checking controls to AI (implied, unspecified) output as to any other research input.
- Read the linked source and subsequent docket history before relying on this record for legal work.