Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Civil liability definition

What does Civil liability mean? In legal practice, civil liability describes a party’s exposure, in civil proceedings, to pay damages or comply with court-ordered remedies for loss, injury or interference with rights suffered by another. It is a descriptive expression rather than a single statutory definition. Civil liability arises across multiple causes of action, including breach of contract; tort (England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland) or delict (Scotland) such as negligence, nuisance and misrepresentation; breach of statutory duty; equitable wrongs; restitution/unjust enrichment; and strict or vicarious liability (for example, occupiers’ liability and product liability). Civil liability is distinct from criminal liability, although the same facts...

UK drones and UAS: regulatory framework, operational categories (open/specific/certified), compliance and civil/criminal liability, including ANO, CAP 722, UK SORA, and assimilated Implementing and Delegated Regulations

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Practice notes

This Practice Note

This Practice Note reviews principal UK legal matters connected to the deployment of unmanned aircraft, or drones, for leisure and business purposes. Unmanned aircraft systems are typically grouped into three broad classes recognised by regulators, covering the spectrum of activities relevant to recreational and commercial use in the UK context. The largest platforms, such as those designed for carrying passengers or for extended-range military use, are regulated as if they were crewed aircraft. Accordingly, they face comprehensive rules: airframe certification and registration, pilot licences, and operating procedures comparable to those applied in conventional civil aviation operations. This Practice Note does not address that class. A second class encompasses operations that cannot satisfy conventional certification, yet can be shown to be safe in practice. For many years, aviation authorities have possessed, and sometimes been obliged to exercise, powers to authorise such activities via permit-to-fly regimes, or by exempting operators from specified aeronautical rules. Often, these permissions or waivers carry platform-specific conditions or constraints tailored to the particular operation, reflecting the risk presented to third parties in the vicinity. The third class comprises lightweight drones flown at low altitude, within visual line of sight, at low level and within sight during...

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Simon Phippard , LLB AKC FRAeS

Bird & Bird

I am a specialist aviation and aerospace lawyer with a wide range of experience in contentious and non-contentious matters both in private practice (23 years) and in-house (7 years). I originally specialised in litigation and arbitration, handling commercial, insurance and liability disputes worldwide as solicitor and client. This included 10 years in aviation casualty work including major accidents and recourse claims. More recently, I have gained extensive experience in transactional work including commercial negotiations. I have a unique level of technical and product related knowledge on flight operations, product integrity and regulatory requirements, continuing airworthiness management and other issues affecting design, manufacture, repair and operation of all kinds of aircraft. Extensive experience in international, regional and domestic economic and technical regulation affecting aviation. Particular specialisation in unmanned aircraft and application of new technologies to aviation business. Specialist also in anti-bribery and corruption compliance across aviation, aerospace as well as other...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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