Article

The laws of man over vehicles unmanned : the legal response to robotic revolution on sea, land and air

Brendan Gogarty and Meredith Hagger

• Journal of law, information and science, Vol. 19, no. 1, 2008, p. 73-145

English

Photocopies

This paper examines the recent proliferation in unmanned vehicles (UVs) in both military and civilian use. Over the last decade unmanned vehicles have played an increasingly central role in armed conflict and a growing role in civilian affairs. The use of such vehicles is challenging the boundaries of existing legal frameworks and presenting a range of social and ethical concerns. Despite this, there has been a relatively small amount of legal debate on the consequences of removing human operators from vehicles and even less in the way of legal reforms to deal with what is now a practical reality in many environments across the globe.