LIJDLR

Actus Reus

RETHINKING MENS REA & CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Volume IV Issue I /

RETHINKING MENS REA & CRIMINAL LIABILITY IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Swati Kumari, Student, 4th year student at Bharati Vidyapeeth (deemed to be university), New Law College, Pune (India) Download Manuscript doi.org/10.70183/lijdlr.2026.v04.89 Artificial Intelligence has moved beyond being a mere technological aid and now performs functions that involve independent decision-making, often with serious real-world consequences. This shift raises difficult questions for penal law, particularly in relation to the requirement of mens rea. While harm caused by AI systems can usually satisfy the element of actus reus, identifying a guilty mind becomes difficult when the actor is a non-human system lacking consciousness or intent. This paper examines whether existing principles of criminal liability are capable of addressing harms caused by AI, or whether their application reveals a structural problem. It analyses the problem of legal personhood in intelligent systems and evaluates different approaches to liability, including perpetration through another, natural and probable consequences, and direct liability of AI. using real incidents involving autonomous vehicles and AI-driven decision making, the paper argues that attributing criminal responsibility directly to AI risks weakening the moral basis of criminal law. Instead, it supports a framework that places responsibility on human actors involved in the design, deployment, and supervision of AI systems, while emphasising the need for preventive regulation to address emerging risks.

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CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR AI: MENS REA, ACTUS REUS, AND THE CHALLENGES OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS

Volume III Issue I /

CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR AI: MENS REA, ACTUS REUS, AND THE CHALLENGES OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS Akanksha Priya,Pursuing LLM in Criminal Law from Amity University, Batch 2024-2025 Download Manuscript doi.org/10.70183/lijdlr.2024.v03.13 Criminal accountability for harms caused by artificial intelligence systems presents profound challenges for traditional legal frameworks. The mens rea and actus reus pillars of Indian criminal jurisprudence face conceptual strains when applied to algorithmic decision-making. AI systems lack human-like mental states and discrete physical acts that form the foundation of criminal culpability. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and other Indian laws inadequately address these accountability gaps. This article examines the conceptual and practical obstacles to AI criminal liability under current Indian legal frameworks. It analyzes relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and identifies their limitations in AI contexts. The article explores comparative regulatory approaches from the European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and other jurisdictions. The article concludes by proposing legal and policy recommendations for India to address AI criminal accountability challenges. These include establishing AI-specific legislation, incorporating risk-based obligations, mandating human oversight for high-risk applications, and developing specialized enforcement capacities. The article emphasizes the urgent need for Indian legal frameworks to evolve beyond anthropocentric paradigms and accommodate the distinctive characteristics of artificial intelligence. Only through such evolution can India establish effective and legitimate mechanisms for attributing criminal responsibility when AI systems cause harm. Type Information Research Paper LawFoyer International Journal of Doctrinal Legal Research, Volume III, Issue I, Page 273-303. Creative Commons Copyright This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. © Authors, 2024

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