Switzerland

Switzerland is a state party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and has participated in all meetings on autonomous weapons systems. Switzerland supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

During the March 2026 session of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems (GGE on LAWS), Switzerland stated ‘we reiterate that the current version of the rolling text remains a solid basis for long overdue negotiations, and we hope that more High Contracting Parties will join the 42 delegations that have already expressed their readiness to move forward towards negotiations within the CCW on the basis of this text.’ ^[1]Statement by Switzerland, CCW GGE on LAWS, 2 March 2026, … Continue reading

In December 2025, Switzerland co-sponsored and voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

At the CCW GGE on LAWS in September 2025, Switzerland joined a group of 42 states delivering a joint statement calling for the group to begin negotiations of an instrument on the basis of its ‘rolling text,’ and stating that they were ready to do this.

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Switzerland co-sponsored and voted in favour of Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

Switzerland made a submission to the UN Secretary-General pursuant to Resolution 78/241 on autonomous weapons systems in May 2024.

In December 2023, Switzerland voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force.

Speaking at First Committee in 2023, Switzerland stated that ‘With regard to the military applications of new technologies, significant conceptual progress has been made at the CCW in identifying the possible and main limitations that should be applied to autonomous weapons systems. However, further progress is still needed to develop within this institutional framework an appropriate instrument dealing with these weapon systems. About the wider applications of artificial intelligence, there is a need for a better understanding of the risks involved and to clarify the regulatory framework. We need to work with all the players and stakeholders to meet the growing challenges in the field of military applications of new technologies and develop effective rules and tools that have strong global support.^[2]Statement by Switzerland, UNGA First Committee,  October 2023, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/3Oct_Switzerland.pdf,Translated with … Continue reading

At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, Switzerland stated that ‘we also have to address the challenges posed by certain new weapon systems and the importance of the work the CCW should undertake on autonomous weapons systems. In this regard, we consider the approach particularly promising that autonomous weapons systems that cannot comply with IHL should not be developed or used, and that other autonomous weapon systems should be subject to oversight to ensure that their use and effects comply with IHL at all times, and we hope that it will be possible to capitalise on this quickly.'^[3]Statement by Switzerland, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 21 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/21Oct_Switzerland.pdf

At the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) meeting in July 2022, Switzerland said that there is a ‘growing feeling that certain kinds of autonomous weapon systems are de facto unlawful and unacceptable and should be prohibited, and that autonomous weapons systems which do not fall into that category should be regulated.’ ^[4]Statement by Switzerland, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 25 July 2022, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-25-07-2022-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading Further, Switzerland said that ‘it is clearly recognised that these key concepts require and imply a certain number of concrete measures, also with strong support for human control and judgment and specific risk mitigation measures all through the life cycles of these kinds of weapon systems.'^[5]Statement by Switzerland, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 25 July 2022, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-25-07-2022-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading

At the 2021 UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, Switzerland said that it believes that ‘new rules and measures should be elaborated to prevent systems that would be unable to comply with International Humanitarian Law’, and that other autonomous weapons systems ‘that may in principle be used in conformity with IHL should for their part be regulated, notably through setting the required type and degree of human control, noting that the latter is context-dependent.’ Switzerland further expressed its hope that the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) would ‘develop a robust comprehensive normative and operational framework to ensure compliance with international law, taking into account ethical considerations.’^[6]Statement by Switzerland, UN General Assembly First Committee, 14 October 2021, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/18Oct_Switzerland.pdf

At the August 2021 meeting of the GGE on LAWS, Switzerland said that autonomous weapons systems that ‘are not capable of providing sufficient guarantees in respect of IHL because of the degree of their autonomy or their design should be prohibited’ and that other types of such systems ‘should be regulated.’^[7]Statement by Switzerland, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 04 August 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-04-08-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading