Artificial intelligences and legal persons as rule of law subjects in T he Lifecycle of Software Objects

The rule of law plays a fundamental role in societies worldwide. Although its meaning is contested, the concept denotes opposition to the arbitrary application of state power. The subject of this application is generally a legal person – it would be odd to suggest a chair should be the subject of the rule of law's protections. Yet it is not only human legal persons who are protected; non-human legal persons – for example, a legal company – may lay claim to rule of law protections. The Lifecycle of Software Objects imagines a world in which digients (non-human beings) are raised and trained by humans. These digients share characteristics with both humans and property. The novella raises questions about how such entities should be treated. In consequence of the inclusion of several popular science fiction tropes in a single novella, this construct allows us to consider whether and how the rule of law can extend to non-human digient-like entities and whether legal personality is a necessary or even sufficient condition for rule of law protections to apply.