Towards Granting of Legal Personality to Autonomous Robots in the UAE

Abstract

The Dubai Digital Government launched its recent guidelines, which call for artificial intelligence systems to be subject to legal accountability. This study discusses the extent to which autonomous robots can be granted legal personality in UAE law and the consistency of this approach with the provisions of Islamic jurisprudence. This research paper answered two main questions: First, the extent to which these guidelines are considered the beginning of work on granting legal personality to AI systems in the UAE. Second, what form of legal personality can be given to autonomous robots in UAE law to be consistent with the provisions of Islamic jurisprudence as a primary source of legislation in the country? The research concluded the impossibility of considering autonomous robots as a "thing" and classifying them within the concept of "persons." It also concluded that it is possible to give them legal personality according to two legislative solutions: granting them partial or incomplete performance eligibility like minors.