Checking responsible field before submitting a change/approval

I think that there should be a check whether the person responsible has been entered prior to submitting a change or an approval.

Also, there should be an auto save before it is possible to submit a change request.

In my last test case, I added a process owner to a model, then submitted a change request (without saving). The administrator (which is me) received a notification that the change request cannot be submitted, because there is no responsible person assigned.

The way it is currently set up doesn't make sense to me.