The Future of IHL
How IHL must evolve to address autonomous weapons, climate-related conflict, and the changing nature of warfare.
Autonomous Weapons Systems
Autonomous weapons systems (AWS), sometimes called 'killer robots,' can select and engage targets without meaningful human control. They raise fundamental IHL questions. Can an algorithm apply the principle of distinction and differentiate between a combatant and a civilian? Can it make proportionality assessments that require qualitative judgment? Who is responsible when an autonomous weapon commits a war crime?
The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) has been discussing AWS since 2014, but progress is slow. Some states call for a preemptive ban, while others (including major military powers) argue that autonomous weapons could actually improve IHL compliance by making more precise targeting decisions than humans under stress. The debate tests whether IHL's human-centered principles can accommodate non-human decision-making.
