Canada

Canada has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) meetings on autonomous weapons systems since 2014.

Canada has not yet declared its position on the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems, though it has expressed in a mandate letter on December 13, 2019 that it would like to ‘advance international efforts to ban the development and use of fully autonomous weapons systems’.^[1]Government of Canada, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mandate Letter, Office of the Prime Minister, December 13, 2019, … Continue reading.

At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in October 2022, Canada stated that ‘it will continue its participation in the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’, and noted that ‘all weapons used in armed conflict must be compliant with International Humanitarian Law.'^[2]Statement by Canada, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 19 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/19Oct_Canada.pdf

At the 2019 CCW Meeting of the High Contracting Parties, Canada said that it ‘believes that the debate on legal questions related to LAWS should center on compliance with International Humanitarian Law, including the obligation for all States to ensure the lawfulness of their weapons, means and methods of warfare’.^[3]Statement by Canada, Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the CCW, 13 November 2019, … Continue reading