Issues of improving Russian legislation on technical regulation in terms of determining the shortcomings of a highly automated car

Abstract

The article brings to the attention of the scientific community some results of a study of current problems of legal regulation of relations arising in connection with the operation of highly automated vehicles, voiced by the authors as part of a plenary report and speeches at the VII International Scientific and Practical Conference “Tambov Legal Readings named after F.N. Plevako” (Tambov, 19th–20th of May, 2023). The rapid development of the highly automated car industry gives rise to a whole range of problematic issues, the totality of which can be characterized as a challenge for Russian tort law. A special place among such issues is occupied by the problem of liability of manufacturers of highly automated cars for damage caused by cars equipped with automatic driving systems. An analysis of scientific sources shows that these issues have not received the necessary and sufficient coverage in Russian literature to resolve problematic situations that arise during the operation of highly automated vehicles. Due to the authors’ awareness of this problem, which consists in the contradiction between the needs of law enforcement practice and the lack of a consistent and problem-free system of legal regulation based on scientific study, this article attempts to provide an analysis of one of the key problems that are important when considering cases of attracting manufacturers to no-fault liability for causing harm by a highly automated car, namely the problem of determining the defect of the car. Using a traditional set of legal research methods (formal-dogmatic, systemic and comparative legal), existing approaches to determining the disadvantage of a car as a product are analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, the conclusion is substantiated that the current gap in the legislation on technical regulation gives rise to significant difficulties in practically resolving the issue of the presence or absence of a deficiency in a highly automated vehicle. In order to solve this problem, a qualitative criterion has been formulated to identify the shortcomings of a highly automated car, which can be legalized in the legislation on technical regulation and used in judicial practice.