Academic interests
- Maritime Law
- Collision Avoidance Rules (COLREGS 1972)
- Autonomous Ships
- Technology, A.I. and Law
- Linguistics and Law
I am writing about the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGS) and its impact on the development of Navigationally-Autonomous Vessels. The main objective is to determine whether the current COLREGS’ rules, which have been shaped by the presumption of human presence on board of vessels, can endure the paradigm shift in potentially both legal thinking and seafaring practices that may be brought about by the development of modern autonomous technologies. One of the principal issues at play is the schism between the qualitative nature of Law and legislative writing, which involves varying degrees of legal indeterminacy, and the typical requirements for precise, clear, quantitative, computable rules and data in the development of computer programs and systems. If the goal is to design and develop Autonomous Navigation Systems which are capable of COLREGS-compliant collision avoidance, legal indeterminacy is a challenge which must be tackled and overcome.
The PhD research project is conducted under the umbrella of the research-based innovation center, SFI AutoShip, It aims to offer crucial insight to developers of Autonomous Navigation Systems on how the COLREGS are interpreted and construed from a legal point of view, and especially by the judicial authorities of select jurisdictions. The development of Autonomous Vessels presents us with the unique opportunity to explore topics which delve deeper into the relationship between Law and technology and how each may affect the understanding and development of the other.
The research will also serve to highlight the potential difficulties in pursuing a strict application of the current COLREGS to all or certain categories of Autonomous Vessels, thus allowing it to contribute to the discussions over possible amendments and/or redrafting of the Collision Regulations in order to facilitate the introduction of autonomous technologies.
Background
Doctoral Research Fellow, Scandinavian Institute for Maritime Law – University of Oslo, 2021 – today
LL.M. in Admiralty & Maritime Law, Tulane University – School of Law, New Orleans – USA, 2019 – 2020
Legal Counsel, CMS Francis Lefebvre, Casablanca – Morocco, 2017 – 2019
Bachelor & Master’s degree in Private & Business Law, University Mohammed V – FSJES, Rabat – Morocco, 2012 – 2017