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.
6 positions Spain (remove filter)
2026
Statement by Spain
Now, that being said, let's make the following comments. On paragraph 39(a) and the first sentence on legal reviews, the inclusion of study, development, acquisition or adoption. Now, we know that a good number of delegations have made this request time and again relating to …
REAIM Pathways to Action
… 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 …
2022
Working Paper
B. In order to operationalize the two-tier approach, the HCP should: (b) Commit to only develop, produce, acquire, modify, deploy or use lethal weapons systems featuring autonomy when the following provisions are fulfilled: i. compliance with international law is ensured when studying, acquiring, adopting or …
2021
Answers by Spain to the Guiding Questions
Which decisions, activities, and processes across the life-cycle of a weapons system would collectivelycontribute towards and enable appropriate human-machine interaction/human control/human judgment?What would be the interaction between these various decisions, activities, and processes and how would theyvary based on the operational context and the characteristics …
Written contribution of Spain on possible consensus recommendations
States should assess, through legal reviews, whether human involvement in the new system would violate IHL principles. In case a legal review identifies a use that might be problematic, doctrine and training should be drafted and implemented in such a way that they allow the …
2020
National Commentary by Spain
To start with, States should assess, through legal reviews of new weapons and new methods of warfare, whether the level of human involvement in the new system would violate IHL. In case a legal review identifies a use that might be problematic, doctrine and training …