The Basis of Civil Liability for Robot Damage - a comparative study

Abstract

Recently, many legal problems have arisen regarding artificial intelligence, including robots, and one of the most important of these problems is related to finding a legal basis for civil liability for damages caused by robots to others in light of the inability of traditional civil liability rules to respond to these developments, so this study came to shed light on the legal basis of civil liability for robot damage in Iraqi and comparative law, with the aim of providing legal solutions to confront these challenges in the near future and keeping pace with legislative developments in the field of artificial intelligence. The study concluded that it’s impossible to implement the rules of civil liability of the subordinate for the actions of his subordinate, because the robot is still in control of things and is not recognized as a legal person. Implementing the rules of responsibility for things also faces many difficulties as a result of its failure to keep pace with developments in the field of artificial intelligence. From this standpoint, we presented a set of recommendations to the Iraqi legislator, including the necessity of making a legislative amendment in the civil law to keep pace with the current era, at the very least, as a preliminary step to recognizing the legal personality of robots in the future.