Portugal's Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) has opened disciplinary proceedings against appeal court judge Alfredo Costa, of the Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL), following suspicions that he used artificial intelligence (AI) to draft a court ruling. The decision was taken following a preliminary inquiry opened in February 2025, prompted by a complaint filed by the 12 defence lawyers in a case involving former MP Helena Lopes da Costa and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

The case came to prominence when the lawyers reported that the ruling cited non-existent legislation and case law, raising serious doubts about the authenticity of the content and the possible use of automatic AI-based writing tools.

In a statement to the Lusa news agency, the CSM confirmed the opening of the proceedings:

“The plenary received the report of the preliminary inquiry relating to the case in question and resolved to open disciplinary proceedings.”

The institution gave no further details, citing the confidential nature of ongoing disciplinary proceedings.

Although the TRL initially considered the accusations “completely unfounded”, the judges ended up correcting the ruling. However, the decision was upheld and the changes made did not convince the lawyers, who consider that the initial errors were compounded, and that new flaws appeared, including the introduction of elements considered “false”.

Among the signatories of the complaint are the well-known jurists Rui Patrício, Paulo Sá e Cunha and Tiago Rodrigues Bastos, who insist on the need for a full investigation and for a possible disciplinary or other sanction.

Back in February, the CSM clarified that the inquiry was intended not only to establish possible disciplinary offences, but also to formulate recommendations on the use of AI tools in the Portuguese judicial system.

The newspaper Correio da Manhã revealed, on 24 November 2024, that the ruling in question was allegedly drafted with the help of AI, in a document that included references to legal provisions and case law that do not exist.

The then president of the TRL, judge Guilhermina Freitas, stated that the ruling's reporting judge, Alfredo Costa, assured her that “the argument that artificial intelligence was used is completely unfounded”.