Criminal Liability Arising from Offenses Committed by Robots

Abstract

The modern era is a technological era that has influenced all aspects of life. In this domain, robots and artificial intelligence have emerged, bringing both opportunities and challenges. One of these challenges concerns the legal and judicial issues related to robots and artificial intelligence. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to examine the criminal liability arising from offenses committed by robots. This study adopts an analytical approach to explore the subject. The findings indicate that traditional legal and judicial norms and regulations are inadequate in addressing crimes committed by robots. This is because the current and traditional model of crime, which is based on material and moral elements, is unable to comprehend the unique and distinct nature of robots that possess the ability to make independent decisions. This necessitates a complete reconstruction of the theoretical perspective in criminology, rather than merely making amendments to existing legal texts. Moreover, the absence of a clear boundary between criminal error, technical error, and industrial error in crimes related to robots requires the development of new models of liability that combine both criminal and technical responsibility. On the other hand, it may be possible to establish the concept of legal personality or juridical personality for robots under strict conditions. Accordingly, it is essential to formulate new legal rules that, while providing a clear definition of the concept of joint liability, take into account the role of designers, developers, and users in this regard. This constitutes the main focus of the present research.