States and some organisations have expressed their views about the utility, purpose, scope and process of the legal review of weapons in various different contexts. Some of these views have been recorded domestic documents, such as military manuals on the law of armed conflict. Increasingly, however, States and organisations have articulated their positions in a range of international fora, either through written submissions or oral interventions.
This database compiles and organises publicly expressed views in relation to legal reviews, without prejudice to their relative significance or effect (for example, in terms of the development of customary international law). The database aims to comprehensively reflect the views of states but only covers the positions of a small number of selected organisations.
This database currently contains 379 positions and is continuously updated. Any corrections, or suggestions to add material, are welcome.
1 position Chair of the GGE LAWS (remove filter)
2026
Statement by the Chair
Let me now turn to para 39. At the request of several states, this para has been brought in line with the exact wording of Additional Protocol I, Article 36. The original formulation was intentionally kept shorter as the chapeau already refers to the life …