Weapon Bans and Regulations
Regulating New Weapons Technology
in The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Law of Armed Conflict (Eric Talbot Jensen & Ronald T.P. Alcala, eds.) (forthcoming 2019)
When confronted with a new weapons technology, international law scholars, military lawyers, and civil society activists regularly ask two questions: Are new regulations needed? And are they needed now? This paper reviews the main categories of technology-fostered legal disruption; tackles the question of whether a given technology will require new law; and weighs the respective benefits of precautionary bans, a wait-and-see approach, and proactive regulation.
An Opportunity to Change the Conversation on Autonomous Weapon Systems
Lawfare (June 15, 2017) (with Frauke Renz)
The Killer Robots Are Here: Legal and Policy Implications
36 Cardozo L. Rev. 1837 (2015)
Notwithstanding increasing state interest in the issue, no one has yet put forward a coherent legal definition of autonomy in weapon systems, resulting in a confusing conflation of legal, ethical, policy, and political arguments. This article proposes that an “autonomous weapon system” be defined as “a weapon system that, based on conclusions derived from gathered information and preprogrammed constraints, is capable of independently selecting and engaging targets.” Contrary to the general consensus, such systems are not weapons of the future: they exist and are in use today.
This fact has two main implications: it undermines almost all legal arguments for a ban, as they are based on the false assumption that such weaponry could never be lawfully employed; and it significantly reduces the likelihood that a successful ban will be negotiated, as states will be reluctant to voluntarily relinquish otherwise lawful and uniquely effective weaponry. Accordingly, this article concludes with a discussion of how best to create successful international regulations.