header-logo header-logo

Your captain is a robot: self-flying aircraft

28 February 2024
Issue: 8061 / Categories: Legal News , Aviation
printer mail-detail
A self-flying aircraft is the subject of the latest Law Commission consultation

Its 247-page paper, ‘Aviation autonomy’, published this week, considers how regulators should adapt to developments where ‘automation will change or make redundant existing human roles, such as that of the pilot’. It covers a wide range of future scenarios, including ‘drones and advanced air mobility vehicles, such as vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, which can provide short journeys for a small number of people’.

The consultation seeks views on safety, civil and criminal liability, the rules of the air which all aircraft must follow when in flight, and other regulatory aspects. Conundrums include whether a self-flying aircraft should be able to depart from the rules if absolutely necessary in the interests of safety.

View the consultation here and respond by 27 May.

Issue: 8061 / Categories: Legal News , Aviation
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
back-to-top-scroll