Civil Liability for Autonomous Ships Under Iranian Law and Relevant International Documents

Document Type : Academicm and Research

Authors

1 Master's degree holder in International Trade Law from the Farabi Campus, University of Tehran

2 Associate Professor in the Department of Private Law at the Faculty of Law, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran

10.22091/csiw.2025.10452.2511

Abstract

Autonomous ships along with their legal challenges including civil liability arising from the production, ownership, and operation of these ships, are a foresight for the future of the maritime transport industry. Since the presence of seafarers on deck is not an explicit prerequisite for the inclusion of the title "ship", the autonomous ship is also included in the definition of a ship. Several factors, including the ship's seaworthiness, its level of autonomy without human oversight and the degree of human intervention influence civil liability regarding autonomous vessels. In addition, the taxonomy of commitment of persons involved in production and operation, as well as the type of liabilities based on these commitments, have a significant role in identifying responsible persons and the manner of dividing responsibility. Despite differences in various conventions and common law of some legal systems, this research suggested that due to both the challenges injured parties face in making claims as well as the professional roles of manufacturers and operators, negligence should be avoided. the basis of absolute liability should be avoided due to the excessive strictness and lack of necessity for this level of protection. Acceptance of the proposed basis of commitment to safety and strict responsibility, or at least presumption of fault for production or operation issues, would provide more advantages and fewer disadvantages. Also In the event of existence and attribution of harm to multiple longitudinal factors, establishing liability for some damaging factors, including individuals attributed with fault in operation, can examined.

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Comparative Studies on Islamic and Western Law

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 February 2025

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