The COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to the ongoing Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) discussions on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), also known as fully autonomous weapons or “killer robots.” Prior to the global lockdown, States Parties agreed to hold 20-day meetings of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) in 2020-2021. The Group of Governmental Experts was tasked with developing recommendations for a “normative and operational framework” on LABS for the CCW Sixth Review Conference in December 2021. [1] The Review Conference is widely seen as the deadline for action on this urgent issue: it should adopt a mandate to negotiate a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems, or states should choose another forum. [68] Vincent Boulanin, Neil Davison, Netta Goussac et Moa Peldán Carlsson, « Limits on Autonomy in Weapon Systems: Identifying Practical Elements of Human Control », CICR et SIPRI, 2 juin 2020, www.icrc.org/en/document/limits-autonomous-weapons (consulté le 30 juin 2021). [16] Statements by Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Turkey, France and Arab Group (presented by Iraq) CCW Group of Governmental Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 21, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes); Statements by Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, and Venezuela, CCW EMG on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 22, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes); Statements by Algeria, Brazil, Chile, India, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and Switzerland, CCW EMG on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, 23. September 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes). In 2016, at the Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the High Contracting Parties decided to establish an Open Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Field of LAWS (EGG AP ON LAW) to build on the work of previous expert meetings. The group was reconvened in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020-2021. Absolute. The 2019-2020 GEG succeeded in relaunching the most comprehensive process in which states examine how international law is applied in cyberspace.

Of course, we would have hoped for more progress on issues such as sovereignty and due diligence. But the very fact that the main actors in cyberspace are working together again after the relative failure of consensus in 2016-2017 is commendable. The recognition is due to the diligence and open-mindedness of the participants in the Group of Governmental Experts of Member States. In statements at the September 2020 meeting, states parties also agreed on the idea of a treaty with prohibitions and regulations. Similarly, the elements of the proposed treaty complement their general obligations and prohibitions with positive rules or commitments to “ensure the maintenance of meaningful human control” over systems not covered by the prohibitions. [44] [48] Pakistan described lethal autonomous weapons as “a unique and new class of weapons” and stated: “Rapid advances in artificial intelligence must be adequately regulated in all dimensions with respect to PALAs. They should not exceed the evolution of the rules applicable to them. Statement by Pakistan, CCW Group of Governmental Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 21, 2020. Equally concerned about the pace of technological development, Colombia said: “We are convinced that regulation is essential to move forward with peace of mind. [Autonomous weapon systems] must have a legally binding framework before this type of weapon can be introduced.

Colombian Statement, CCW Group of Governmental Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 22, 2020. [39] Statements by Cuba, Mexico, and Turkey, CCW-EMG Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 21, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes); Statements by Austria, France, Pakistan, Sweden, and Switzerland, CCW-EMG meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems, September 23, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes); Statements by Argentina, Costa Rica, and Spain, CCW Group of Governmental Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 24, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes). See also ICRC statement, CCW Group of Governmental Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 24, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes). The Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) is a party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). This Group of Governmental Experts met from 21 to 25 September 2020 in Geneva in a new format: experts from capitals, hubs of work, followed the debates for the first time via a virtual platform. [43] Richard Moyes, Article 36, “Target Profiles,” August 2019, www.article36.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Target-profiles.pdf (accessed September 8, 2020), p. 3. The concept of meaningful human control goes beyond the proposed blanket commitments, bans and positive commitments, and there was significant support for maintaining such control at the September 2020 meeting. Although some States Parties have used other terms, such as human judgment or human intervention, to refer to the human role, as evidenced by the statistics above, about two-thirds of the States speaking at the 2020 meeting explicitly referred to the meaning of “human control” or “meaningful human control”. [5] In written statements and statements made at the informal meeting in June 2021, several states made proposals for a new treaty that were in line with those of September 2020, but were even stronger and more specific.

See, for example, Joint Working Paper of Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Sierra Leone, and Uruguay, June 2021, documents.unoda.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Costa-Rica-Panama-Peru-the-Philippines-Sierra-Leone-and-Uruguay.pdf (accessed 30). June 2021); Joint working paper of Brazil, Chile and Mexico, “Elements for a Future Normative Framework Conducive to a Legal Binding Instrument to Address the Ethical Humanitarian and Legal Concerns Posed by Emerging Technologies in the Area of (Lethal) Autonomous Weapons (SALA),” June 2021, documents.unoda.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Brazil-Chile-Mexico.pdf (accessed June 30, 2021). The characteristics of human control identified by States at the 2020 meeting are consistent with those set out in the elements of the proposed treaty. They can be distilled into decision-making, technological and operational components. [55] While none of these components alone is sufficient to make sense of human control, each element promotes and contributes to human control. [6] See, for example, Austrian Statement, CCW GGE meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems, 21 September 2020, conf.unog.ch/dr/public/61.0500/0A90EB8D-23C3-47F2-8E27-FD27E45BF17F_15h13/chunks/snippet_lOs145-36t150-35.mp3 (accessed 30 June 2021); Statements by Algeria, Brazil, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, and Sri Lanka, CCW Group of Governmental Experts Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 21, 2020 (Human Rights Watch and IHRC notes); Iraq Statement, CCW GGE Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, September 22, 2020, conf.unog.ch/dr/public/61.0500/E5FE0F1C-9F68-4E0A-9809-B1D049DF26CE_10h01/chunks/snippet_lEs60-26t61-59.mp3 (accessed June 30, 2021).