Belgium

Belgium has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) meetings on autonomous weapons systems since 2014. Belgium has stated that it ‘fully shares the concerns on the possible risks and dangers from an ethical and humanitarian point of view related to the development of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS).’^[1]Statement by Belgium, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, August 2018, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ccw/2018/gge/statements/29August_Belgium.pdf

Belgium has not yet declared its position regarding support for the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. Belgium has previously expressed its support for a ‘normative and operational framework on emerging technologies in the area of LAWS’.^[2]Statement by Belgium, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 21 September 2020, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/CCW-GGE-20200921-PM_mp3.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in 2022, Belgium said that it would further ‘efforts to foster consensus on a normative framework regarding autonomous weapons systems, as we have done in the past.'^[3]Statement by Belgium, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 12 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/12Oct_Belgium.pdf

In a joint written contribution to the 2020 meeting of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS), Belgium highlighted a number of issues relevant to developments in autonomy in weapons systems, including predictability and reliability, meaningful human control, human responsibility, and accountability, and stated that it is ‘of the view that a normative and operational framework should ensure that human control is exerted and retained over critical functions of any weapons system based on emerging technologies in the area of LAWS.’^[4]Joint Commentary on Guiding Principles A, B, C, and D, submitted by Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, and New Zealand, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, … Continue reading

At the domestic level, the Belgian parliament voted unanimously in 2018 in favour of a ban on autonomous weapon systems.^[5]See: PAX (2018), ‘Belgium votes to ban killer robots’, https://paxforpeace.nl/news/overview/belgium-votes-to-ban-killer-robots In 2021, Belgium held public hearings on a resolution to add autonomous weapon systems to Belgium’s law on prohibited weapons, and a resolution calling for Belgian leadership in the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons.^[6]See: Article 36 (2021), ‘Leadership at the Belgian parliament on regulating autonomous weapons’, … Continue reading