Ireland

Ireland has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) meetings on autonomous weapons systems since 2014. Ireland has not yet declared its position regarding support for the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

At the 2023 CCW GGE on LAWS, Ireland stated that ‘It is clear that certain systems require regulation with clear rules and others should be prohibited. Also, given the centrality of IHL, we should be able to collectively acknowledge that autonomous weapons systems that cannot be used in accordance with IHL must not be developed, deployed or used. Ceding human control, agency or responsibility to algorithms should not be acceptable. Humans should retain control of the use of force and that there is clear accountability and responsibility.’^[1]Statement by Ireland, 2023 CCW GGE on LAWS, 15 May … Continue reading

Ireland has stated that ‘the application of and compliance with IHL requires context-specific, value-based judgment by human beings, and that this requirement cannot be substituted by autonomous machines or systems’,^[2]Statement by Ireland, CCW GGE on LAWS, 03 August 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-03-08-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full recording & transcript of … Continue reading and has said that without human control over autonomous weapons systems, their ‘development, deployment and use would undermine international humanitarian law, international human rights law and ethical standards’.^[3]Statement by Ireland, CCW GGE on LAWS, 24 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-24-09-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full recording & transcript … Continue reading At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, Ireland warned that ‘failure to make progress’ on the issue of autonomous weapons at the CCW GGE on LAWS ‘cannot continue indefinitely.'^[4]Statement by Ireland, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 10 October 2022, https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1q/k1qpl23hqa; please note that this link leads to the full recording & transcript … Continue reading

Previously, Ireland has stated that it is ‘flexible on how effective regulation is achieved, including through a combination of positive and negative obligations, legal and practical measures that ensure compliance with IHL.’^[5]Statement by Ireland, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 24 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-24-09-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading In a joint written contribution to the 2021 meeting of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems , Ireland stated that ‘the ceding of human control, agency, responsibility and intent in decisions on the application of force to algorithms and computer-controlled processes poses fundamental ethical concerns’, and that ‘ethical considerations also underpin the necessity of establishing limits on autonomy in weapons systems and elaborating positive and negative obligations with respect to any potential development or use of such systems.’^[6]Submission by Austria, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico and New Zealand on ethical considerations to the Chair of CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, September 2021, … Continue reading