Research and development in criminal law and criminology

Research and development in criminal law and criminology

The Future of International Crimes: Feasibility of Adapting the Crime of Aggression to Counter Artificial Intelligence

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
mohammad ali ardebili 1
Alireza Noorian 2
1 Professor of criminal law at , Shahid Beheshti UniProfessor, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.versity
2 Ph.D. in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Edalat University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jclc.2026.735000
Abstract
The concurrent rise of state cyber capabilities and the potential (mis)use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to advance malicious state objectives pose the critical question: Is the International Criminal Court (ICC) equipped to counter AI-driven cyber attacks perpetrated by and against states? Or does conduct via AI risk creating a legal vacuum, thereby shielding human actors who ordered its use from responsibility? In response, by outlining and explicating the “Responsibility Gap” discourse, this article analyzes how AI impacts the essential elements of international crimes namely, the material (Actus Reus) and mental (Mens Rea) elements from the perspective of the ICC Statute. Specifically, by examining the concept of “Cyber Aggression,” which has recently gained attention in legal scholarship, the study assesses the efficacy of the current text of the Rome Statute and its associated interpretations in establishing international criminal responsibility in cases where AI causes cyber aggression. This article explores a spectrum in which potential acts of cyber aggression may be reducible to human activity thus transferring 
criminal responsibility to the human trainer of the AI versus scenarios where the committed act is perhaps too remote from human intervention to justify criminal responsibility based on the mental state of a culpable human agent. To engage in this discussion, the article begins with a brief overview of the Crime of Aggression, followed by the introduction of the emerging concept of cyber aggression. Subsequently, the challenges posed by applying AI-based aggression to the conventional elements of international criminal responsibility are examined. Furthermore, solutions proposed in International Criminal Law scholarship are described. It is argued that the elements of criminal responsibility for an act of aggression, within the current structure and interpretation of the ICC Statute, lack the necessary readiness and capacity to adapt to the ambiguous consequences of cyber aggression committed through state-sponsored AI systems. Finally, prior to the conclusion, an additional approach is proposed.
Keywords
International Criminal Court (ICC)
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Cyber Aggression
Criminal Responsibility
Responsibility Gap

Subjects

1-       Acquaviva, Guido, “Crimes without Humanity? Artificial Intelligence, Meaningful Human Control, and International Criminal Law”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol.21, 2023, 981-1004.
2-       . Acquaviva, Guido, “Non-State Actors from the Perspective of International Criminal Tribunals”, in Jean D’Aspremont, Math Noortmann and W. Michael Reisman (eds), Participants in the International Legal System, London: Routledge, 2011.
3-       . American Law Institute, Model Penal Code and Commentaries, Philadelphia, 2017.
4-       . Ambos, kai, “Individual Criminal Responsibility for Cyber Aggression”, Journal of Conflict & Security Law, vol.21, n°3, 2016, 495-504.
5-       . Ambos, Kai, “General Principles of Criminal Law in the Rome Statute”, Criminal Law Forum, vol.10, 1999, 1-32.
6-       . Baron, Marcia, “Negligence, Mens Rea, and What We Want the Element of Mens Rea to Provide”, Criminal Law and Philosophy, vol.14, n°1, 2020, 69-89.
7-       . Bo, Marta, “Autonomous Weapons and the Responsibility Gap in the Light of the Mens Rea of War Crime of Attacking Civilians in the ICC Statute”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol.19, n°2, 2021, 275-299.
8-       . Buchan, Russell and Nicholas Tsagourias, “Special Issue: Non-State Actors and Responsibility in Cyberspace: State Responsibility, Individual Criminal Responsibility and Issues of Evidence”, Journal of Conflict & Security Law, vol.21, n°3, 2016, 377-381.
9-       . Cassese, Antonio, “On Some Problematical Aspects of the Crime of Aggression”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol.20, n°4, 2007, 841-849.
10-   . Chaumette, Anne-Laure, “International Criminal Responsibility of Individuals in Case of Cyberattacks’, International Criminal Law Review, vol.18, n°1, 2018, 1-35.
11-   . Clark, Roger. S., “The Mental Element in International Criminal Law: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Elements of Offences”, Criminal Law Forum, vol.12, 2001, 291-334.
12-   . Eser, Albin, “Mental Elements-Mistake of Fact and Mistake of Law”, in Antonio Cassese, Paola Gaeta and John R.W.D. Jones (eds), The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary, vol.1, Oxford University Press, 2002.
13-   . Fletcher, George P., Basic Concepts of Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 1998.
14-   . Gaeta, Paola, “Who Acts When Autonomous Weapons Strike? The Act Requirement for Individual Criminal Responsibility and State Responsibility”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol.21, n°5, 2023, 1033-1055.
15-   . Galliott, Jai and Austin Wyatt, “Risks and Benefits of Autonomous Weapon Systems: Perceptions among Future Australian Defence Force Officers”, Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, vol.3, 2020, 17-34.
16-   . Ghafur Shayer, Søren Rud Kristensen, Kate Honeyford, Greg Martin, Ara Drazi and Paul Aylin, “A Retrospective Impact Analysis of the WannaCry Cyberattack on the NHS”, Nature partner journals, vol.98, 2019, 1-7.
17-   . Greco, Gianpiero, “Cyberattacks as Aggression Crimes in Cyberspace in the Context of International Criminal Law”, European Journal of Political Science Studies, vol,4, n°1, 2020, 40-47.
18-   . Greipl, Anna Rosalie, “Data-Driven Learning Systems and the Commission of International Crimes: Concerns for Criminal Responsibility?”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol.21, n°5, 2023, 1097-1118.
19-   . Hajdin, Nikola R., “The Actus Reus of the Crime of Aggression”, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol.34, 2021, 489-504.
20-   . Königs, Peter, “Artificial Intelligence and Responsibility Haps: What is the Problem?”, 24 Ethics and Information Technology, vol.24, n°36, 2022, 1-11.
21-   . Kreß, Claus, “On the Activation of ICC Jurisdiction over the Crime of Aggression”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol.16, 2018, 1-17.
22-   . Lagioia, Francesca and Giovanni Sartor, “AI Systems under Criminal Law: A Legal Analysis and a Regulatory Perspective”, Philosophy & Technology, vol.33, 2020, 433-465.
23-   . Lina, Dafni, “Could AI Agents Be Held Criminally Liable: Artificial Intelligence and the Challenges for Criminal Law”, South Carolina Law Review, vol.69, n°3, 2018, 677-696.
24-   . Morris, Madeline, “The Democratic Dilemma of the International Criminal Court”, Buffalo Criminal Law Review, vol.5, 2002, 591-600.
25-   . Matthias, Andreas, “The Responsibility Gap: Ascribing Responsibility for the Actions of Learning Automata”, Ethics and Information Technology, vol.6, 2004, 175-183.
26-   . Moore, Michael S., Act and Crime: The Philosophy of Action and its Implications for Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 2010.
27-   . Ophardt, Jonathan A., “Cyber Warfare and the Crime of Aggression: The Need for Individual Accountability on Tomorrow’s Battlefield’, Duke Law & Technology Review, vol.9, n°3, 2010, 1-27.
28-   . Porro, Sara, Risk and Mental Element: An Analysis of National and International Law on Core Crimes, DPhil Thesis, University of Hamburg, 2014.
29-   . Schmitt, Michael N. and Sean Watts, “Beyond State-Centrism: International Law and Non-State Actors in Cyberspace”, Journal of Conflict & Security Law, vol.21, n°3, 2016, 595-611.
30-   . Schmitt, Michael N., Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, 2 ed., Cambridge University Press, 2017.
31-   . Steer, Cassandra, “Non-State Actors in International Criminal Law”, in Jean D’Aspremont, Math Noortmann and W. Michael Reisman (eds), Participants in the International Legal System, London: Routledge, 2011.
32-   . Trahan, Jennifer, “The Criminalization of Cyber-Operations Under the Rome Statute”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol.19, n°5, 2021, 1133-1164.
33-   . Tsagourias, Nicholas and Michael Farrell, “Cyber Attribution: Technical and Legal Approaches and Challenges”, European Journal of International Law, vol.31, n°3, 2020, 941-967.
34-   . Tsilonis, Victor P., The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, Cham: Springer, 2 ed., 2024.
35-   . Weissbrodt, David, “Cyber-Conflict, Cyber-Crime, and Cyber-Espionage”, Minnesota Journal of International Law, vol.22, 2013, 347-387.
36-   . Wendehorst, Christiane, “Strict Liability for AI and other Emerging Technologies”, Journal of European Tort Law, vol.11, n°2, 2020, 150-180.
37-   . Office of the Prosecutor, Strategic Plan 2016-2018 (2015), §§ 63, 65.
38-   . Office of the Prosecutor, Strategic Plan 2023-2025 (2023), § 57.
39-   . ICC-01/05-01/08-424, 15 June 2009, § 368.
40-   . ICC-01/04-01/06-2842, 14 March 2012, § 1011.
41-   . ICC-01/04-01/06-3121, 1 December 2014, § 447.
42-   . ICC-01/05-01/08-2170, 21 March 2016, §§ 170, 183.
43-   . ICC, Elements of Crimes, U.N. Doc. PCNICC/2000/1/Add.2
44-   . SC Res. 573, 4 October 1985.
45-   . SC Res. 577, 6 December 1985.
46-   . UN General Assembly Resolution 3314,
47-   . United States of America et al. V. Goering et al, International Military Tribunal, 30 September to 1 October 1946.
48-   . Burges, Matt, “Here Come the AI Worms”, WIRED, 1 March 2024,
49-   available online at: www.wired.com/story/here-come-the-ai-worms (visited 27 March 2024).
50-   . Carpenter, Chris and Duncan B. Hollis, “A Victim’s Perspective on International Law in Cyberspace”, Lawfare, 28 August 2023,
51-   available online at: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-victim-s-perspective-on-international-law-in-cyberspace (visited 6 March 2024).
52-   . Davis, Joshua, “Hackers Take Down the Most Wired Country in Europe”, WIRED, 21 August 2007,
53-   available online at: www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/15-09/ff_estonia (visited 6 March 2024).
54-   . “Ex-Google Officer Finally Speaks Out on The Dangers Of AI! -Mo Gawdat”, Diary of a CEO, Episode 252, 1 June 2023,
55-   available online at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk-nQ7HF6k4 (visited 22 March 2024).
56-   . Greenberg, Andy, “The Untold Story of NotPetya, the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History”, WIRED, 22 August 2018,
57-   available online at: www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cyberattack-ukraine-russia-code-crashed-the-world (visited 13 March 2024).
58-   . K.A.A. Khan KC, “Technology Will Not Exceed Our Humanity”, Foreign Policy, 20 August 2023,
59-   available online
60-   at: https://digital frontlines.io/2023/08/20/technology-will-not-exceed-our-humanity/ (visited 21 November 2024).
61-   . NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO Cyber Defense Pledge Conference in Italy, 10 November 2022,
62-   available online
63-   at: www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_208925.htm (visited 27 November 2024).
64-   . “Press Release: Former CEO of Volkswagen AG Charged with Conspiracy and Wire Fraud in Diesel Emissions Scandal”, U.S. Department of Justice, 3 May 2018,
65-   available online at: www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-ceo-volkswagen-ag- charged-conspiracy-and-wire-fraud-diesel-emissions-scandal (visited 16 October 2024).
66-   . “Statement by ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC on conference addressing cyber-enabled crimes through the Rome Statute system, International Criminal Court”, 22 January 2024,
67-   available online at: www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prose cutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-conference-addressing-cyber-enabled-crimes-through (visited 21 November 2024);
68-   . UK’s National Security Cyber Center (NSCC), “What We Do”,
69-   available online at: www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-ncsc/what-we-do (visited 20 November 2024)
70-   . U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), “Our Vision and Mission”,
71-   available online at: www.cybercom.mil/ About/Mission-and-Vision (visited 20 November 2024)
72-   . “What was the WannaCry ransomware attack?”, Cloudflare,
73-   available online
74-   at: www.cloudflare.com/learning/security/ransomware/wannacry-ransomware (visited 15 April 2024).
75-   . Zetter, Kim, “Logic Bomb Set Off South Korea Cyberattack”, WIRED, 21 Mach 2013,
76-   available online at: www.wired.com/2013/03/logic-bomb-south-korea-attack (visited 6 March 2024);
77-   . Zewe, Adam, “Explained: Generative AI”, MIT News, 9 November 2023,
78-   available online at: https://news.mit.edu/2023/explained-generative-ai-1109 (visited 11 March 2024).