Breakfast Briefing with Anna Andersson

International Law Breakfast Briefings

Emerging Norms for Autonomous Weapons Systems 

Abstract

2023 marked the tenth year of multilateral discussions as to whether there is a need for new international law specifically regulating autonomous weapons systems (AWS). It turned out to be a very intense year. The Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (CCW GGE LAWS) issued their first substantive report since 2019; a number of states adopted a political declaration on responsible use of military artificial intelligence and autonomy; and there were three regional gatherings aimed at forming joint approaches on how to advance efforts to develop new international law for AWS. Furthermore, the issue was raised before the First Committee of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Hence, 2024 looks set to be another busy year, with AWS being on the agenda of both the UNGA and the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), as well as the UN Human Rights Council.

This sparks the question whether we are at a turning point in the longstanding legal development on the topic of AWS. Looking at the statements made at international forums and the recent outcome of such processes, Anna Andersson will provide an analysis of the normative implications of these developments. Is the result of these different processes that new norms regulating AWS have developed, or do they merely confirm the applicability of already existing international law to AWS? What normative impact does the current state of the discussion have on the existing legal framework? Anna will also provide an overview of what can be expected forthe near future in terms of legal development.

About the Speaker

Anna Andersson is a researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency and a PhD candidate at the University of Oslo, Norway. Anna has a law degree from Örebro University, Sweden, and a master’s degree in international humanitarian law and human rights from the Geneva Academy, Switzerland. Anna has previously worked as a lecturer in international law at Örebro University and the Swedish Defence University.

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See a list of all the Breakfast Briefings for Spring 2024.