The Law Commission of England and Wales is considering how to update aviation law to cover autonomous aviation, and the House of Commons Public Bill Committee has published a call for views on the UK’s Automated Vehicles Bill.
As the Law Commission comments, there is a lot of aviation law in the UK and it is very prescriptive. There are concerns about gaps, uncertainties or restrictive regulation which could prevent the safe deployment of highly automated and autonomous aviation systems. As part of the UK Research and Innovation Future Flight Challenge, the Law Commission was asked to consult on how to prepare the UK for autonomy in aviation.
The Law Commission launched a consultation on the regulation of aviation autonomy on 26 February 2024. The consultation looks at regulation of self-flying and remotely piloted aircraft (including drones), and advanced mobility vehicles including vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The consultation looks at safety, rules of the air to reflect remotely piloted craft, and liability issues where there is no pilot on board, in addition to specific types of remotely piloted aircraft. The Law Commission consultation closes on 27 May 2024 and a report is expected towards the end of 2025. A further consultation will look at air traffic management and air navigation services.
The current regulatory regime around uncrewed aircraft is focused on two UK Regulations which are assimilated EU law. These adopt a safety-focused, risk-based approach categorising operations as open (low-risk), certified (high-risk) and specific (a residual category for operations which do not fall into the other two). The certification system is the same as for conventional aircraft. The Law Commission suggests this results in gaps and is also concerned that many autonomous flight aircraft will rely on complex AI technologies which will be difficult to certify within the current framework. Views are sought on how to adapt and develop airworthiness and certification regulation.
Views are sought on how the ‘highway code’ of the air should be adapted or developed to account for operations with remote pilots or those that involve highly automated and autonomous aircraft.
The Law Commission is also asking about the approach to commercial and criminal liability for uncrewed aircraft and operations, including around safety, hijacking, carriage of dangerous goods and offences relating to aerodromes. It seeks views on whether the definition of ‘hijacking’ should be extended to include taking control of an aircraft when not on board.
Meanwhile, the House of Commons Public Bill Committee published a call for evidence on the Automated Vehicles Bill which was presented to Parliament in November 2023. Written evidence is asked for as soon as possible as the Committee will consider provisions of the Bill in an order it will publish shortly and select amendments. Once it has considered a clause, it will not revisit it. Its first sitting was on 19 March and the Committee is scheduled to report by not later than 18 April 2024.
It is clear that the law needs to be updated to accommodate autonomous and automated transportation with reform of aviation law being further behind than reform of the law relating to automated road vehicles. Those in the automated aviation and vehicles sector may want to respond to the consultation/call for evidence as appropriate.
