States and some organisations have expressed their views about the utility, purpose, scope and process of the legal review of weapons in various different contexts. Some of these views have been recorded domestic documents, such as military manuals on the law of armed conflict. Increasingly, however, States and organisations have articulated their positions in a range of international fora, either through written submissions or oral interventions.
This database compiles and organises publicly expressed views in relation to legal reviews, without prejudice to their relative significance or effect (for example, in terms of the development of customary international law). The database aims to comprehensively reflect the views of states but only covers the positions of a small number of selected organisations.
This database currently contains 339 positions and is continuously updated. Any corrections, or suggestions to add material, are welcome.
States
Organisations
International fora
| WG ERW | CCW Group of Governmental Experts Working Group on Explosive Remnants of War |
| MX LAWS 2014 | CCW Informal Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (13–16 May 2014) |
| MX LAWS 2015 | CCW Informal Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (13–17 April 2015) |
| MX LAWS 2016 | CCW Informal Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (11–15 April 2016) |
| GGE LAWS 2017 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (13–17 November 2017) |
| GGE LAWS 2018 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (9–13 April and 27–31 August 2018) |
| GGE LAWS 2019 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (25–29 March and 20–21 August 2019) |
| GGE LAWS 2020 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (21–25 September and 2–6 November 2020) |
| GGE LAWS 2021 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (3–13 August, 24 September–1 October and 2–8 December 2021) |
| GGE Cyber 2019–21 | UN Group of Governmental Experts on Advancing Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace (9–13 December 2019, 24–28 February 2020, and 5–9 April and 24–28 May 2021) |
| OEWG Cyber 2021–25 | Open-ended Working Group on Security of and in the Use of Information and Communications Technologies (13–17 December 2021, 28 March–1 April and 25–29 July 2022, 6–10 March, 24–28 July and 11–15 December 2023, and 4–8 March and 8–12 July 2024) |
| GGE LAWS 2022 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (7–11 March and 25–29 July 2022) |
| GGE LAWS 2023 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (6–10 March and 15–19 May 2023) |
| GGE LAWS 2024 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (4–8 March and 26–30 August 2024) |
| GGE LAWS 2025 | CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (3–7 March 2025 and 1–5 September 2025) |
| UNGA Res 78/241 | Submissions to the United Nations Secretary-General pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 78/241 |
| IC RCRC | International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent |
Domestic documents
The database contains extracts from various domestic documents that reflect the approach of states to legal review, including military manuals.
