Germany

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

Germany has not yet declared its position on the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2022, Germany stated that ‘In our view, it is indispensable to intensify international efforts on questions related to emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS),’ and added that ‘in our view, the two-tier approach –outlawing lethal autonomous weapons systems that operate completely outside human control on the one hand, and positive regulations for weapons systems with autonomous functions on the other hand – that was promoted by a group of 8 countries (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden) continued to gain traction.'^[1]Statement by Germany, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 20 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_Germany.pdf

At the Sixth Review Conference of the CCW in December 2021, Germany said that it is important for the CCW to ‘deliver results’ and that the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (GGE on LAWS) ‘continue its efforts based on a solid and ambitious mandate’, because of ‘the urgency that stems from the pace of technological progress and the potential risks associated with it’.^[2]Statement by Germany, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 13 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-13-12-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note … Continue reading In the same statement, Germany said that it is ‘convinced’ that ‘weapon systems operating completely outside a human chain of command and control must not be developed and used and that a framework of human control must be retained for all other weapon systems featuring autonomy.’^[3]Statement by Germany, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 13 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-13-12-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note … Continue reading