Well, my delegation would just like to express how encouraged we are with the tone of the discussions so far. And we take particular interest, and we’d like to echo some of the points that were raised by the distinguished delegation of Pakistan and Argentina, as well as the very important points raised by the distinguished delegation of the Russian Federation. I think the conclusion that we derive from this is that there is indeed a layer of complexity with regard to the application of AI and machine learning and algorithms in terms of conducting appropriate legal review. And I think it was the Russian Federation that also stressed that those that are conducting review should not only be equipped with legal expertise, but also necessary technical expertise that would make the systems or the softwares underpinning these technologies intelligible to them. And in that regard, I just wish to reiterate that this highlights the proposals in the Draft Protocol for, first, an interdisciplinary conduct of these review beyond the legal context; second, to have a capacity building that will aid other countries that are not as technologically advanced as others in reviewing weapons that might in the future proliferate further, and also to develop an institutionalised space for states to conduct exchanges, and exchanges of good practices. I think there is a growing convergence already that what we need is not merely national measures, but a framework of some sort. On one side of the spectrum, you have delegations like ours that believe that we need a legally binding instrument, or at least some sort of multilaterally agreed, general guidelines that would serve as a premise for national measures that could be elaborated on the basis of specific national conditions. But even those that do not believe that we need such a rigid framework or a legal framework, understand that there has to be a multilateral or international framework, be it through an exchange of good practice at the multilateral level that would bridge some differences in understanding and conduct of weapons review. So in that spirit, I wish to echo what was said by the distinguished delegation of Norway just now that perhaps in our report, we could go beyond what we have already reiterated in the previous iteration of the GGE on the usefulness of weapons review, but have something that would be a step forward. And I think that is something somewhere in the middle in the context of the framework that I believe we’re all converging around.
Statement by Philippines under agenda item 5, topic 5 (9 March 2023, 2nd intervention, transcript)
