New weapons – requirement of an international law weapons review
8.9 In the study, development, acquisition or adoption of a new weapon, means or method of warfare, Norway is under an obligation to determine whether its employment would, in some or all circumstances, be prohibited by the law of armed conflict.9
8.10 The assessment to be carried out includes a duty to clarify whether an absolute prohibition applies. If no absolute prohibition applies, it must be clarified whether use of the weapon or ammunition in question would be prohibited in certain situations, for example against certain targets or at certain distances. In such cases, usage restrictions must be adopted.
8.11 The general assessment as to whether a weapon is prohibited per se because it causes superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering is not an assessment to be undertaken by individual soldiers in the case of approved weapons used by the Norwegian Armed Forces. A special committee assists the Chief of Defence with such assessments. The Chief of Defence’s international law committee is a permanent advisory body which reports and is subordinate to the Chief of Defence.
8.12 Norwegian soldiers can thus be confident that weapons systems delivered to them have been evaluated and determined to comply with the law of armed conflict. Nevertheless, each individual user is responsible for ensuring that use of a weapon in a given situation complies with the general rules and principles of the law of armed conflict. This may include, for example, not using an otherwise lawful weapon in an arbitrary manner.
8.13 Norwegian forces shall not use other weapons or other ammunition than those delivered to them through the Norwegian Armed Forces’ supply channels. In other words, Norwegian forces shall not use private weapons or ammunition. If a given situation raises the prospect that weapons or ammunition obtained other than through the Norwegian Armed Forces’ supply channels may be used, such use shall require prior approval from the Chief of Defence or a person authorised by the Chief of Defence. As a rule, this will be Norwegian Joint Operational Headquarters. In such cases, it is assumed that these types of weapons and ammunition have received prior approval as described in section 8.10. In emergencies where there is no time or it is unfeasible to obtain such approval, individual soldiers may undertake this assessment themselves, based on self-defence considerations. For example, the need may arise to use weapons taken from an enemy during combat. For further discussion of this topic, see sections 9.13–17.
9 Additional Protocol I, Article 36; Direktiv om folkerettslig vurdering av våpen, krigføringsmetoder og krigføringsvirkemidler [Directive on Evaluation of Weapons, Methods and Means of Warfare According to International Law] of 18 June 2003, Article 1(2).
The Chief of Defence, Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict (2013, in English 2018) 173–74
