Criminal Liability Arising from Offenses Committed by Robots

Abstract

The modern era is a technological era that has impacted all dimensions of life. In this domain, robots and artificial intelligence have emerged, offering both opportunities and challenges. One of the primary challenges pertains to the legal and judicial issues related to robots and artificial intelligence. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to examine the issue of criminal liability arising from offenses committed by robots. The present study adopts an analytical approach to investigate this topic. The findings confirm that traditional legal and judicial norms and laws are insufficient to address crimes committed by robots. This is because the current and conventional model of crime, which is based on material and moral elements, is incapable of comprehending the unique and distinct nature of robots endowed with autonomous decision-making abilities. This necessitates a comprehensive reconstruction of theoretical perspectives in criminology—not merely a revision of existing legal texts. Furthermore, the absence of clear boundaries between criminal fault, technical error, and industrial error in crimes involving robots underscores the need for developing new models of liability that incorporate both criminal and technical responsibility. On the other hand, it is theoretically possible to establish the concept of legal personality or juridical personhood for robots under stringent conditions. Accordingly, it is imperative to formulate new legal rules that, while providing a clear definition of the concept of joint responsibility, account for the roles of designers, developers, and users in this context—this constitutes the central focus of this research.