This chapter seeks to clarify the criminal responsibility that may be imputable to: (i) programmers of autonomous vehicles for related crimes under national criminal law such as manslaughter and negligent homicide and (ii) programmers of autonomous weapons for related crimes under international criminal law, such as war crimes. The key question is whether programmers could satisfy the actus reus element required for establishing criminal responsibility. The core challenge in answering this question is establishing a causal link between programmers’ conduct and crimes related to autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons. The chapter proposes responsibility for inherent foreseeable risks associated with the use of AVs and AWs on the basis of programmers’ alleged control of the behavior and/or effects of the autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons. Establishing the exercise of meaningful human control by programmers over autonomous vehicles and autonomous weapons is crucial to the process of imputing criminal responsibility and bridging a responsibility gap.

Discussion on human rights before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS or Tribunal) often refers to its ‘considerations of humanity’ dictum. Yet this is just one way the Tribunal takes into account the interests and rights of individuals affected by law of the sea disputes. This chapter uncovers multiple modes of engagement of ITLOS with human rights – some subtle, some bold – across three types of procedure: prompt release, provisional measures and merits cases. It illustrates how ITLOS has achieved a ‘humanisation’ of the obligation of prompt release through its context- and purpose-based interpretation; likewise, parties increasingly invoke, and ITLOS tacitly relies upon, human rights as a basis for provisional measures. While the Tribunal’s reliance on individual rights in merits decisions remains limited to date, it may consider human rights on the basis of ‘reference provisions’ within UNCLOS, the ‘considerations of humanity’ dictum and the prohibition on abuse of rights. The analysis reveals that ITLOS has paved the way for human rights to be taken into account in law of the sea disputes and that UNCLOS provides a legal framework for it.