The ICRC has welcomed the attention that this discussion has brought to improving and developing legal review processes. Effective legal reviews are critical to ensuring that a State’s armed forces comply with IHL in light of rapid technological developments. Greater transparency in how States interpret and apply their obligation to carry out legal reviews of new weapons to new technologies can help to identify good practices and thus assist States seeking to comply with their legal review obligations, particularly when reviewing [AWS], whose unique characteristics can make legal reviews more difficult. But the bottom line is that while robust legal reviews remain essential, they are not a substitute for States working towards internationally agreed limits on autonomy in weapon systems.
Statement by the ICRC under agenda item 5(e) (27 March 2019)
