Criminal Responsibility Arising From Usage of Autonomos Vehicles: A General Review in the context of Turkish Penal Law

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the probable penal law issues that may arise from the usage of autonomous vehicles with artificial intelligence features within the framework of Turkish Penal Law, and it also aims to open a debate on this issue, which has not been discussed before in the context of the Turkish legal system. First, considering the principles and regulations published by various countries and organizations, the meaning of what determines an autonomous vehicle and the autonomy levels of such vehicles was determined. Second, it has been argued whether autonomous vehicles themselves could bear criminal responsibility. It has been stated that this would not be possible in terms of Turkish criminal law principles. For this reason, the issue was dealt with in terms of the responsibility of drivers and users. In this context, in order to determine the criminal responsibility of drivers and users, the necessity of separating the general principles of criminal responsibility in terms of intentional or negligent offenses is investigated. Although no specific difference has been identified in terms of intentional offenses, the rules related to cautiousness and the criteria for foreseeability should be examined in detail.