The attribution of criminal liability for acts committed by intelligent autonomous systems, robotics and related technologies

Abstract

The approach proposed in this paper is that, at least in the short or medium term, criminal law has adequate instruments to impose criminal liability on human beings who have been involved in the design, manufacture, distribution or use of these intelligent systems, even if they are autonomous systems. This is without prejudice to the fact that direct measures can also be imposed against the intelligent system in order to block an objective risk of repetition of the crime. To support such a construction, several categories are used, such as significant human control (SHC) and the criterion of compliance, used as a basis for the criminal liability of legal persons. An outline is presented in this study.