New Technologies in International Law / Tymofeyeva, Crhák et al.

occurrence of adverse impacts on human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law during design, development, use and decommissioning of AI systems. 233 In accordance with art. 5 of the draft Framework Convention, each Party shall take the necessary measures to ensure that all activities in relation to the design, development, use and decommissioning of AI systems are compatible with relevant human rights and non-discrimination obligations undertaken by it under international law, or prescribed by its domestic law. 234 However, there is no mention of the R2HE, or the sustainable development or the protection of the environment in the proposal of the Convention. Since the formulation of the art. 5 is a bit vague, we argue that the R2HE, since it is a human right important for the enjoyment of other (fundamental) human rights and most CoE Member States provide constitutional protection to the R2HE, Parties to the proposed Convention will be obliged to take necessary steps to respect, protect and fulfil the R2HE. On the positive side, the proposed Convention contains risk and impact management framework (art. 15), under which States shall take measures for the identification, assessment, prevention and mitigation of risks and impacts to human rights, democracy and rule of law arising from the design, development, use and decommissioning of AI. Such measures shall (a) contain adequate requirements which take due account of the context and intended use of AI, in particular as concerns risks to human rights, democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of the environment; (b) take account of the severity, duration and reversibility of any potential risks and adverse impacts; and (c) ensure that the risk and impact management processes are carried out iteratively throughout the design, development, use and decommissioning of the AI. 235 What is particularly worth mentioning is the art. 26, under which Parties that are members of the EU shall, in their mutual relations, apply EU rules governing the matters within the scope of this Convention. Although, the AI Act does not contain the R2HE, several proposed provisions require EU member States to protect the environment from harmful effects of AI. Conclusion This brings us back to the main question: “Do the adopted or draft international norms regulating the use of AI reflect on the newly recognized right to clean, healthy and sustainable environment?” First, it is important to note that are still no international legal frameworks regulating the development and use of AI. All of the analysed documents were of non-binding nature, either due to the fact that these are only recommendations or that they are currently only draft legal frameworks. It seems that the proposed regulation of the EU will be the first legally binding instrument in this area. Second, the R2HE is not expressly recognized in legally binding instruments of the UN, EU or the CoE. Although, the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE 233 Council of Europe – Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Consolidated working draft of the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, 7 July 2023, CAI(2023)18, Art. 2.

234 Ibid., Art. 5. 235 Ibid., Art. 15.

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