States Parties to 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions have a legal obligation to conduct legal reviews of new weapons. In the ICRC’s view, the requirement to carry out legal reviews also flows from the obligation to ensure respect for IHL. Besides these legal requirements, all States have an interest in assessing the lawfulness of new weapons. Effective legal reviews are critical to ensuring that a State’s armed forces comply with IHL in light of rapid technological developments. However, in the view of the ICRC, they are not sufficient alone to address the concerns raised by autonomous weapon systems given the complex legal and ethical questions involved, which require common understandings at the international level. Implementation of legal reviews of autonomous weapon systems raises practical challenges and questions, especially given the difficulties in foreseeing the likely consequences of use of autonomous weapon systems. In conducting reviews, particular attention should be given to measures needed to ensure human control over weapons and the use of force.
ICRC commentary on the ‘Guiding Principles’ of the CCW GGE on ‘Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems’ (July 2020)
