Positions of States and Organisations

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.

2026

  1. Statement by Panama

    3 September 2026State or organisation: PanamaForum: GGE LAWS 2026

    On this paragraph, having heard the comments of other delegations, I think that you've done a titanic effort to achieve a balance in the chapeau and in the subparagraphs. Now we've heard the argument that if the obligations to carry out legal reviews and this …

  2. REAIM Pathways to Action

    5 February 2026State or organisation: ArmeniaState or organisation: AustriaState or organisation: BelgiumState or organisation: CanadaState or organisation: ChileState or organisation: CyprusState or organisation: CzechiaState or organisation: DenmarkState or organisation: FinlandState or organisation: FranceState or organisation: GeorgiaState or organisation: GermanyState or organisation: GhanaState or organisation: GreeceState or organisation: HungaryState or organisation: IcelandState or organisation: IrelandState or organisation: ItalyState or organisation: LuxembourgState or organisation: MoroccoState or organisation: NetherlandsState or organisation: NorwayState or organisation: PakistanState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: PortugalState or organisation: Republic of KoreaState or organisation: RomaniaState or organisation: SingaporeState or organisation: SpainState or organisation: SwedenState or organisation: SwitzerlandState or organisation: TürkiyeState or organisation: UkraineState or organisation: United KingdomForum: REAIM

    … 7. Building on the Call to Action advanced at the REAIM Summit 2023 in The Hague and the Blueprint for Action advanced at the REAIM Summit 2024 in Seoul, convinced that the time has come to take steps towards operationalization of the principles reflected …

2024

  1. Submission by Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Sierra Leone and State of Palestine to the Secretary-General

    May 2024State or organisation: ChileState or organisation: ColombiaState or organisation: Costa RicaState or organisation: Dominican RepublicState or organisation: EcuadorState or organisation: El SalvadorState or organisation: GuatemalaState or organisation: KazakhstanState or organisation: NigeriaState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PeruState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: Sierra LeoneState or organisation: State of PalestineForum: UNGA Res 78/241

    The draft Protocol includes a preamble and eight (8) articles: (1) General Provisions, (2) Characterization, (3) Prohibitions, (4) Regulations, (5) Review of Weapons, (6) Risk Mitigation, (7) Compliance, and (8) Consultations of High Contracting Parties …. [Annex: CCW/GGE.1/2023/WP.6]

2023

  1. Draft Protocol on Autonomous Weapon Systems (Protocol VI)

    11 May 2023State or organisation: ArgentinaState or organisation: ColombiaState or organisation: Costa RicaState or organisation: EcuadorState or organisation: El SalvadorState or organisation: GuatemalaState or organisation: KazakhstanState or organisation: NigeriaState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PeruState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: Sierra LeoneState or organisation: State of PalestineState or organisation: UruguayForum: GGE LAWS 2023

    Article 5: Review of Weapons Sec. 1: Each High Contracting Party shall ensure that weapon systems under development or modification which changes the effects or use of existing weapon systems, including as a result of self-learning processes, must be reviewed to ensure compliance with international …

2022

  1. Draft Protocol VI

    9 August 2022State or organisation: ArgentinaState or organisation: Costa RicaState or organisation: EcuadorState or organisation: El SalvadorState or organisation: GuatemalaState or organisation: KazakhstanState or organisation: NigeriaState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: Sierra LeoneState or organisation: UruguayForum: GGE LAWS 2022

    Article 4: Review of Weapons Sec 1: Each High Contracting Party shall ensure that weapon systems under development or modification which changes the effects or use of existing weapon systems, including as a result of self-learning process, must be reviewed to ensure compliance with international …

  2. Roadmap Towards a New Protocol on Autonomous Weapons Systems

    8 August 2022State or organisation: ArgentinaState or organisation: Costa RicaState or organisation: GuatemalaState or organisation: KazakhstanState or organisation: NigeriaState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: Sierra LeoneState or organisation: State of PalestineState or organisation: UruguayForum: GGE LAWS 2022

    4. The current cycle of GGE shall aim to formally recognize the common elements that have arisen through constructive engagement among delegations throughout the CCW discussions on autonomous weapon systems (AWS), particularly in the last GGE cycle. These common elements include recognizing: … (h) the …

  3. Working paper

    8 August 2022State or organisation: ArgentinaState or organisation: AustriaState or organisation: BelgiumState or organisation: ChileState or organisation: Costa RicaState or organisation: EcuadorState or organisation: GuatemalaState or organisation: IrelandState or organisation: KazakhstanState or organisation: LiechtensteinState or organisation: LuxembourgState or organisation: MaltaState or organisation: MexicoState or organisation: New ZealandState or organisation: NigeriaState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PeruState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: Sierra LeoneState or organisation: Sri LankaState or organisation: State of PalestineState or organisation: SwitzerlandState or organisation: UruguayForum: GGE LAWS 2022

    1. This Working Paper sets out the following considerations and elements for the future work of the Group. The GGE should: … 13. Recall the obligation for States to conduct national weapon reviews, as codified in Article 36 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva …

2021

  1. Joint Working Paper

    27 September 2021State or organisation: ArgentinaState or organisation: Costa RicaState or organisation: EcuadorState or organisation: El SalvadorState or organisation: PanamaState or organisation: PeruState or organisation: PhilippinesState or organisation: Sierra LeoneState or organisation: State of PalestineState or organisation: UruguayForum: GGE LAWS 2021

    9. … Our delegations are of the view that stronger focus should be given to the following principles, which should be the elements of a normative framework on LAWS: (j) … States should be transparent regarding all aspects of the development of their weapons systems, …