Home Office Accused of Relying on AI-Generated Evidence in Asylum Refusal

A senior judge reviewing an appeal by a Moroccan woman and her child concluded that the Home Office had based its refusal on a non-existent “country policy information note” (CPIN) for Morocco. In a decision dated July 14, the judge stated that no such CPIN could be located in the public domain and that the Home Office’s country-policy team could not confirm its existence. He further observed that the refusal letter displayed characteristics consistent with the use of artificial-intelligence-generated text, suggesting the reference to a CPIN might be an AI “hallucination.”

The Guardian

The Home Office, after initially pointing to an archived link that did not contain the document, later produced an unpublished internal guidance called a “country information note” (CIN). The department also indicated it could supply additional information requested by the judge.

The Guardian

The internal CIN, which was not disclosed during the legal proceedings, noted that in 2018 Morocco granted exemptions for 40,000 child marriages—approximately 20 percent of all marriages that year. It also recorded that Moroccan law does not explicitly criminalise marital rape and that women reporting such abuse may face prosecution for alleged extramarital sexual activity if authorities reject their claims.

The Guardian

The judge’s findings raise concerns about the reliability of automated tools used in immigration decision-making. If AI-generated references are being treated as authoritative, the risk of procedural errors and wrongful refusals may increase, prompting calls for greater transparency and oversight of the Home Office’s evidence-gathering processes.

The Guardian

The woman’s appeal has progressed to the Upper Tribunal, where the judge has highlighted the missing CPIN and the potential AI-related flaw. The case remains open, and further judicial scrutiny of the Home Office’s use of AI-derived information is expected.

The Guardian