[…] existing international humanitarian law (Article 36 “New Weapons” of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, signed on 12 August 1949) provides that “in the research, development, acquisition or adoption of new means or methods of warfare, a High Contracting Party shall be under an obligation to ensure that their use is not prohibited in certain or all circumstances by the provisions of this Protocol or by any other rule of international law applicable to that High Contracting Party”.
[…]
Moreover, the need to respect international humanitarian law during armed conflicts and combat operations, in the context of new technologies in the field of LAWS, implies the importance of applying the provisions of Articles 36 and 57 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions on ‘New Weapons’ and ‘Precautions in Attack’.
In this respect, we agree that international humanitarian law also applies to these systems and that the decision to use them must be taken by the individual. Also in this context, states should consider, from the conceptual stage, the legality of new weapons they develop or acquire.
Republic of Moldova, Note on addressing the humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical challenges and related concerns raised by lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) 4–5
