Consulting Report to the Council of Europe, European Committee on Crime Problems: Autonomous Vehicles and Criminal Liability

The Council of Europe sought the input of TRAIL affiliates in relation to the proposed pan-European legal instrument that seeks to address the issue of ascribing criminal liability to autonomous vehicles (AVs). TRAIL affiliates proposed a number of inputs, including using a broad definition of “autonomy” to capture a broad range of automated tasks and activities undertaken by various processes of AVs, the use of evidential tools to reverse or lighten the legal burden of proof, extending the scope of criminal liability to encompass interactions between the AV mechanism and the driver as well as elements of the design and manufacturing process, and emphasizing the importance of a group liability mechanism as an alternative to criminal liability.