Rethinking Law for Nonhuman Minds: AI Agents and the Transformation of Legal Fundamentals
A special issue of Laws (ISSN 2075-471X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 March 2026 | Viewed by 305
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The rise of autonomous artificial agents challenges the very scaffolding of modern legal systems. Legal notions such as agency, personhood, responsibility, and intentionality which were historically grounded in human cognition, moral capacity, and social embeddedness are strained by the emergence of systems that act without direct human oversight, learn from experience, and make consequential decisions in real time.
This Special Issue invites cutting-edge scholarship that interrogates how law must evolve to accommodate or resist the integration of AI agents. We welcome contributions that explore doctrinal, theoretical, and philosophical questions, including but not limited to:
- Can nonhuman agents meaningfully possess legal agency or bear responsibility?
- How should the law conceptualize “intent” and “fault” in the absence of consciousness?
- Is there a normative or functional basis for extending legal personhood to AI systems?
- How do existing legal frameworks—domestic, transnational, or international—cope with the epistemic opacity and autonomy of AI agents?
- What lessons can be drawn from corporate, animal, or collective personhood analogies?
- How should emerging technologies prompt revisions in civil liability, criminal law, or international legal personality?
As Guest Editor, I encourage interdisciplinary approaches and contributions from legal scholars, philosophers of law, computer scientists with an interest in jurisprudence, and policy experts. The Special Issue aims to stimulate a rigorous re-examination of foundational legal categories in light of rapidly evolving AI capabilities.
Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Gervais
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- artificial intelligence
- legal personhood
- agency and responsibility
- intentionality
- AI agents
- autonomy and accountability
- legal theory and technology
- law and emerging technologies
- nonhuman legal subjects
- jurisprudence and AI
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