Overview
- The General Council of the Judiciary’s disciplinary panel, which ruled Monday, imposed a €1,000 fine under article 418.8 for disclosing case information outside official channels.
- The commission rejected a harsher penalty for a very serious breach and said the judge used the tool as an aid rather than as a replacement for judicial decision-making.
- The disciplinary promoter had sought a 15-day suspension for inexcusable ignorance of judicial duties, while the Public Prosecutor’s Office argued there was no offense and asked to close the case.
- The council’s January 28 instruction bars AI from issuing rulings or weighing facts without constant, real human oversight and limits judges to vetted tools provided by justice authorities or the council itself.
- El Español reported the judge was detected after leaving ChatGPT queries in the draft, underscoring the risk that sharing case details with general chatbots can expose confidential data outside court systems.