CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE IN THE AGE OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES: REINTERPRETING MENS REA UNDER INDIAN CRIMINAL LAW

Abstract

The rise of self-driving cars has raised issues pertaining to the relevance of principles of mens rea and negligence within the Indian context. The concept of mens rea and criminal negligence was developed within the context of a human-oriented criminal justice paradigm where the actions of offenders were directly attributed to deliberate human decision-making, human intention, and human behavior. On the other hand, autonomy in driving shifts the decision-making process to computer technology and machine learning, thereby making the occurrence of an adverse outcome dependent on programming defects, unforeseen machine behavior, or machine malfunctions.