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.
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International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
2024
ICRC IHL Challenges Report
States use various domestic processes to implement their IHL obligations. Legal review of new weapons, means and methods of warfare is one such process mandated by IHL. Carrying out a legal review of any new weapon, means or method of warfare they develop or acquire …
2019
ICRC IHL Challenges Report
E) Challenges Posed by Certain New Technologies of Warfare to Legal Reviews of New Weapons As noted above, the development and use of new technologies of warfare, such as autonomous weapon systems or military cyber capabilities, do not occur in a legal vacuum. As with …
2015
ICRC IHL Challenges Report
1) New technologies of warfare […] In accordance with Article 36 of Additional Protocol I, each State Party is required to determine whether the employment of a new weapon, means or method of warfare that it studies, develops, acquires or adopts would, in some or …