Czechia

Czechia has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meetings on autonomous weapons systems. In a statement at the 2021 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) it stated there is a ‘clear understanding that the overall responsibility of LAWS should remain in the hands of humans.’^[1]Statement by Czechia, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 13 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-13-12-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in 2022, Czechia stated that ‘it is also important to maintain the Convention responsive to new technological advances. We therefore welcome further work on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). In our view, it is indispensable for the CCW High Contracting Parties to have sufficient guidance on how to ensure that any new weapon, means or methods of warfare are in compliance with the International Humanitarian Law, which should under any circumstances remain our primary objective.'^[2]Statement by Czechia, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 21 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/21Oct_Czechia.pdf

Czechia has not yet declared its position on the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. It has aligned itself with statements by the European Union regarding the need for normative and operational framework on autonomous weapons systems. In a statement at the United Nations General Assembly First Committee in 2020, the European Union said that it ‘will support the GGE in the clarification, consideration and development of aspects of the normative and operational framework for emerging technologies in the area of LAWS.’^[3]Statement by the European Union, UN General Assembly First Committee, 09 October 2020, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/9Oct_EU.pdf