NEWSLETTER-2017

386 NEWSLETTER 2017 accidents caused by robots. In 2015, a robot in an automotive factory in the US lost control, and it caused a fatal work accident 12 . Upon his wife’s death, the husband claimed that the five companies who designed, built and tested the robots were liable for this accident. This fact shows that the number of co-defendants shall be increas- ing, because plaintiffs will most likely file the lawsuit against anyone involved in the process, before the statute of limitations expires. But what if this robot made decisions of its own accord? Shall we then have the right to claim the designer or producer’s liability? In order to claim an employer’s strict liability under Article 66 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, an illegal act must have been committed, damage suffered, and a causal link between the act and damage must exist. The employer shall be then obliged to compensate the damage suf- fered by the others by its employees during the performance of their work 13 . In this case, could the producer and tester be jointly respon- sible with the owner, or must the claimant prove the producer and tester’s faulty and unlawful behavior? The question continues: What about criminal liabilities? In civil law, it is usually not necessary to prove a subjective mental element to establish liability for breach of contract or tort. But if a tort is intentionally committed, or a contract is intentionally breached, such intent may increase the scope of liability and the damages payable to the plaintiff. The first paragraph of Article 20 of Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237 sets forth that criminal respon- sibility is personal. No one shall be held responsible for the acts of another individual. Since the strict liability principle is not present in the Turkish Criminal Code, how would it be possible to claim criminal liability of the owner, designer or producer? In this new era, while the number of work accidents caused through the fault of the worker is reducing, we shall be busy sharing liability for work accidents caused by non-humans. 12 Please see: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/robot-killed- woman-wanda-holbrook-car-parts-factory-michigan-ventra-ionia-mains-federal- lawsuit-100-a7630591.html(access date: 29.06.2017). 13 Please refer to our article for detailed information on employer’s liability: http:// www.erdem-erdem.av.tr/publications/law-journal/organizational-liability-added- to-art-66-of-the-turkish-code-of-obligations-regarding-employers-liability/(ac- cess date: 29.06.2017).