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Liability for Autonomous Systems

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Abstract

In the legal discussion on autonomous systems, the question of responsibility for damage caused by these systems is a major issue. This article analyzes the current law and the ongoing discussion on liability for damages caused by autonomous systems in European and German law with the aim of providing impulses for the development of an adequate legal framework for liability. It focuses on the question of the appropriate concept and addressees of liability.

The article comes to the conclusion that the traditional fault-based liability de lege ferenda has to be supplemented by a system of strict liability and in this respect advocates a strict liability in the sense of a causal liability. The addressee of strict liability should not only be the operator of the system, but also its producer. With regard to causal liability of the producer, however, a differentiation is required: The producer should only be the addressee of causal liability if, instead of the operator of the system, he plays the central role in controlling the risks emanating from the autonomous system.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Wakabayashi (2018).

  2. 2.

    Several articles dealing with the safety have been published since then, see for example Kerr (2018), Financial Times (2018), Naughton (2018), and O’Donnell (2018).

  3. 3.

    Schwarze (2019), mn. A2; Hager (2017), mn. 9; Shavell (2004), pp. 259 f.; Wagner (2020b), mn. 43; Schäfer and Ott (2012), pp. 166, 565.

  4. 4.

    Hager (2017), mn. 10; Schäfer and Ott (2012), p. 169; Shavell (2004), p. 187; Wagner (2020b), mn. 45–47.

  5. 5.

    Bräutigam and Klindt (2015), p. 1139; explicitly just for tort law Schaub (2017), p. 348; cf. Wagner (2019), p. 30.

  6. 6.

    Borges (2018), p. 982; Hanisch (2013), p. 120; Spiecker gen. Döhmann, I. (2016), p. 704; Wagner (2020a), p. 734.

  7. 7.

    Report from the Expert Group on Liability and New Technologies—New Technologies Formation, pp. 3 f., 35 f., available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/COMMITTEES/JURI/DV/2020/01-09/AI-report_EN.pdf. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  8. 8.

    European Parliament, resolution with recommendations to the Commission on a civil liability regime for artificial intelligence, Brussels 2020-10-20, 2020/2014(INL), available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0276_EN.html. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  9. 9.

    Explicitly for autonomous driving Borges (2016b), p. 273; Riehm (2014), p. 114; cf. Spindler (2015), p. 768.

  10. 10.

    See Article 14 of the proposed resolution supra note 8.

  11. 11.

    In addition, Zech (2016), pp. 177 ff., differentiating between the manufacturer on the one hand and the user on the other hand.

  12. 12.

    See also hereto in overview Kötz and Wagner (2016), pp. 2 f. et passim; Jansen (2003), pp. 42 ff.; Koziol (2019), p. 377; Owen (2010), p. 571; Zech (2016), pp. 180 ff.

  13. 13.

    Borges (2018), p. 979; id. (2019), p. 149; Sommer (2020), pp. 447 ff.; Spindler (2019), pp. 134 ff.; Thöne (2020), pp. 187 ff.

  14. 14.

    Deutsch (1996), mn. 5; Owen (2010), p. 580; Lahe (2005), p. 61; Gray (1999), p. 293; Karner (2019), p. 117; for French tort law cf. Brüggemeier (2020), pp. 334 ff.

  15. 15.

    So for example Kötz and Wagner (2016), mn. 110, 113; particularly on § 823 Sec. 1 BGB see also Brüggemeier (1986), mn. 178; Watson (2013), p. 3; Goldberg and Zipursky (2001), p. 658.

  16. 16.

    Wright (1985), p. 1737; Gray (1999), p. 94.

  17. 17.

    Translation published by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection available at, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#p3489. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  18. 18.

    In part, numerous distinctions are drawn between different types of strict liability, a summary can be found in Deutsch (1992), pp. 73 ff.

  19. 19.

    This term is used, for example, in the German Federal Court’s (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) decision of 20.10.1961, Az. VI ZR 41/61, VRS Bd. 22, p. 10 ff.; OLG Düsseldorf, NJW-RR 1999, p. 1623; Borges (2016b), p. 274; id. (2018), p. 980; Deutsch (1996), p. 54 (“Kausalhaftung als enge Gefährdungshaftung”).

  20. 20.

    See Jorgensen (1970), p. 46; Ramon (1982), pp. 1692 ff.

  21. 21.

    Schäfer and Ott (2012), p. 229.

  22. 22.

    Deutsch (1996), mn. 661; Deutsch (1992), p. 75.

  23. 23.

    Explicitly OLG Düsseldorf, NJW-RR 1999, p. 1623; Borges (2016b), p. 274; Böhmer (1970), p. 1725 (“Verursachungshaftung”).

  24. 24.

    Translation published by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, available at https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stvg/englisch_stvg.html#p0014. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  25. 25.

    Deutsch (1992), pp. 75 ff.

  26. 26.

    Borges (2016b), p. 278; id. (2018), p. 981.

  27. 27.

    Council Directive of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provision of the Member States concerning liability for defective Goods (85/374/EEC), O.J. No. L 210/29.

  28. 28.

    Taschner (1986), p. 612; Dielmann (1986), p. 1392; European Commission (2018), p.7.

  29. 29.

    Wagner (2019), pp. 35 f.; cf. for the German law Oechsler (2018b), mn. 42.; cf. also for the ProdHaftG Seibl (2021), mn. 24.

  30. 30.

    Borges (2018), p. 981; Spickhoff (2016), p. 866; Thöne (2020), pp. 137 f.; to the extent that a relaxation of evidentiary burden to a partial reversal of the burden of proof is accepted in the context of § 823 para. 1 BGB, liability pursuant to § 823 para. 1 BGB could certainly be described as strict liability, compare Borges (2016b), p. 278; see also Deutsch (1992), p. 77; Grundmann (2016), mn. 44 (for presumed fault); see also von Bar (1980), pp. 273 ff.

  31. 31.

    Translation published by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, available at https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_vvg/englisch_vvg.html#p0482. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  32. 32.

    Recourse against the registered keeper and the driver is only possible under exceptional circumstances; see Burmann and Hess (2019), mn. 1–13.

  33. 33.

    Armbrüster (2017), p. 84; von Bodungen and Hoffmann (2016a), pp. 450 f.; Borges (2016b), p. 274; Fleck and Thomas (2015), p. 1394; Gless and Janal (2016), p. 571; Jänich et al. (2015), p. 315; Lutz et al. (2013), p. 61; Schrader (2015), pp. 3537 ff.; Sosnitza (2016), p. 768; Wagner (2017), p. 758.

  34. 34.

    See Jänich et al. (2015), p. 315; Schrader (2015), p. 3538; Sosnitza (2016), p. 768; Wagner (2017), p. 758.

  35. 35.

    Borges (2016b), p. 279; Greger (2014), mn. 23.

  36. 36.

    Borges (2016b), p. 279.

  37. 37.

    Borges (2018), p. 981.

  38. 38.

    Borges (2016b), pp. 277 ff.; id. (2016a), pp. 617 ff.

  39. 39.

    In this direction also Kütük-Markendorf (2017), p. 354; more reservedly by Sosnitza (2016), p. 772.

  40. 40.

    Implied in Schaub (2017), p. 348; in favour of comprehensive strict liability of an undefined “operator” Gless and Janal (2016), p. 574; in favour of the sufficiency of the existing liability concepts von Bodungen and Hoffmann (2016b), p. 508; the same result also in Sosnitza (2016), p. 772 (changes to the existing liability regime are not necessarily required) Wagner and Goeble (2017), p. 266.

  41. 41.

    Cf. the press release of Bitkom e.V., available at https://www.bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Wer-haftet-fuer-mein-selbstfahrendes-Auto.html. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  42. 42.

    E.g. Prantl (2018).

  43. 43.

    See e.g. Leibfritz (2019).

  44. 44.

    Borges (2018), p. 981.

  45. 45.

    von Bar (1996), mn. 206 f., mn. 210 f., mn. 354; Wagner (2020c), mn. 4.

  46. 46.

    Eberl-Borges (2018), mn. 6.

  47. 47.

    See, for an overview, von Bar (1996), mn. 206 ff.; Spickhoff (2020), mn. 18–29.

  48. 48.

    RGZ 14, 316 (317 ff.); von Bar (1996), mn. 208, 210, 213; Spickhoff (2020), mn. 6; Cour de cassation, Chambre civile 2, 24.05.1991, n° 90-12912; Cour de cassation, Chambre civile 2, 18.10.1995, n° 93-17.277.

  49. 49.

    Spickhoff (2020), mn. 6; Cour de cassation, Chambre civile 2, 06.05.1970, n° 69-11.121; Cour de cassation, Chambre civile 2, 08.11.1984, n° 83-12.643; Cour de cassation, Chambre civile 2, 09.01.1991, n° 89-15.489.

  50. 50.

    Animals Act 1971, available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/22. Accessed 28 August 2021. See also Lord Denning M. R. in Cummings v. Granger [1977] Q. B. 397, 404 described § 2 (2) as “very cumbrously worded” and giving rise to “several difficulties”; Slade L. J. in Curtis v. Betts [1990] 1 W. L. R. 459, 462 agreeing.

  51. 51.

    von Bar (1996), mn. 357; Spickhoff (2020), mn. 25; without mentioning the respective rule, Goodhart (1941), pp. 269 f.

  52. 52.

    Goodhart (1941), pp. 269 f.; Hay (2020), pp. 159 f. at mn. 392.

  53. 53.

    Brunotte (2017), pp. 585 ff.; Sosnitza (2016), p. 772; contradicting for example Grützmacher (2016), p. 698; reservedly Horner and Kaulartz (2016a), p. 14; the same but more in favour of de lege ferenda (2016b), pp. 24 ff.

  54. 54.

    It is explained in such a way in Schaub (2017), p. 348, who distinguishes between private and commercial operators.

  55. 55.

    Börding et al. (2017), p. 140; Grützmacher (2016), p. 698; Zech (2016), p. 196.

  56. 56.

    See Grützmacher (2016), p. 698 by reference to a similar problem regarding the proof of the cause of the damage; on the general purpose of § 836 BGB in solving evidential problems, see Bernau (2018), mn. 3; Wagner (2017), mn. 2.

  57. 57.

    For the reasons behind the creation of § 833 BGB in its current form, see Eberl-Borges (2018), mn. 1 ff.

  58. 58.

    Deutsch (1992), p. 75 (“enge Gefährdungshaftung”); similarly also BGH, NJW 1976, p. 2130 as well as Kruse (2012), p. 1362.

  59. 59.

    Borges (2018), p. 981.

  60. 60.

    In this direction see for example, Schaub (2017), p. 348.

  61. 61.

    Borges (2018), p. 981.

  62. 62.

    Borges (2018), p. 981.

  63. 63.

    Spindler (2017), mn. 26; Wagner (2017), mn. 46.

  64. 64.

    Borges (2018), pp. 981 ff.

  65. 65.

    Borges (2018), p. 982.

  66. 66.

    See detailed commentary in Engelmann (1929), Anm. 2; on the ratio of § 833 para.-2 BGB see also Eberl-Borges (2018), mn. 8 ff.; on the constitutionality of the differentiation see BGH, NJW 2009, p. 3234.

  67. 67.

    Borges (2018), p. 982.

  68. 68.

    Supra note 7, p. 6.

  69. 69.

    Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on liability for the operation of Artificial Intelligence-systems, (2020/2014(INL)), available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0276_EN.pdf. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  70. 70.

    § 831 para. 1 BGB reads: “A person who uses another person to perform a task is liable to make compensation for the damage that the other unlawfully inflicts on a third party when carrying out the task. Liability in damages does not apply if the principal exercises reasonable care when selecting the person deployed and, to the extent that he is to procure devices or equipment or to manage the business activity, in the procurement or management, or if the damage would have occurred even if this care had been exercised.”, available at https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html#p3510. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  71. 71.

    Borges (2020b), mn. 83; Wagner (2020d), mn. 62; von Westphalen (2020), p. 250.

  72. 72.

    BGHZ 99, pp. 172 ff.

  73. 73.

    Howells (1993), p. 201.

  74. 74.

    Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc. (1963), 59 Cal. 2d 57.

  75. 75.

    Cf. Fairgrieve et al. (2016), Teil 1, p.19 at mn. 1; Reimann (2015), p. 251.

  76. 76.

    Fairgrieve et al. (2016), Teil 1, p. 50 at mn. 77.

  77. 77.

    Schulz (2015), p. 163; Sommer (2020), p. 220; for autonomous vehicles cf. Berz et al. (2000), p. 549; Borges (2016b), p. 275; Horner and Kaulartz (2016a), pp. 10 f.; Jänich et al. (2015), p. 316; Lutz et al. (2013), p. 61; Schrader (2015), p. 3538.

  78. 78.

    See, as an excerpt of this discussion, the written question (No. 706/88) of Gijs de Vries to the Commission of the European Communities and the related answer given by Lord Cockfield on behalf of the Commission, OJEC No C 114, p. 42 as of 8.5.1989.

  79. 79.

    Borges (2020a), mn. 43; Cahn (1996), p. 2904; Fairgrieve and Rajneri (2019), p. 27; Rebin (2021), mn. 56; Redeker (2020), mn. 878; Reese (1994), p. 1124; Reusch (2020), Ch. 4.1 at mn. 173 ff.; Taeger (1996), p. 261; Wagner (2017), pp. 716 ff.; a.A. Oechsler (2018a), mn. 65; Frietsch (1990), mn. 22.

  80. 80.

    See the description of tasks of the Product Liability Directive formation within the Call for Applications, p. 4, available at https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/core/api/front/calls-application/12065/download. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  81. 81.

    Borges (2021), p. 35, sub 4.1; different by von Westphalen (2018), p. 194 (misbehaviour of a system as a defect of the product).

  82. 82.

    Borges (2021), p. 35, sub 4.1.

  83. 83.

    That means, at least, that an automated vehicle must be able to obey traffic rules; this requirement is, for example, set forth in a current draft for an amendment to the German Road Traffic Act (Straßenverkehrsgesetz; StVG), compare § 1e para. 2 No. 3 StVG-E, available at https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/DE/Anlage/Gesetze/Gesetze-19/gesetz-aenderung-strassenverkehrsgesetz-pflichtversicherungsgesetz-autonomes-fahren.pdf?__blob=publicationFile. Accessed 28 August 2021.

  84. 84.

    Borges (2021), p. 35, sub 4.1; von Westphalen (2020), p. 251; Zech (2019), p. 205.

  85. 85.

    Borges (2021), p. 37, sub 4.4.

  86. 86.

    The controllability of the risk is a leading idea for the introduction of objective liability, see Borges (2016b), p. 278; also for an explanation of the term strict liability in the sense of the liability model described as objective liability Brüggemeier (1986), mn. 30; Hehl (1999), p. 90; Larenz (1965), p. 374; Müller-Erzbach (1910), p. 413; Rümelin (1910), p. 46; contradictory opinions expressed by Blaschczok (1993), p. 66; Köndgen (1976), p. 32.

  87. 87.

    Borges (2018), p. 981.

  88. 88.

    Borges (2018), p. 982.

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Borges, G. (2022). Liability for Autonomous Systems. In: Borges, G., Sorge, C. (eds) Law and Technology in a Global Digital Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90513-2_3

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