Netherlands

The Netherlands has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meetings on autonomous weapons systems.

The Netherlands supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems, as indicated by the Dutch government in a letter to parliament in June 2022. ^[1]Letter to parliament with Cabinet response to AIVCAVV advice on autonomous weapons systems, 17 June 2022, … Continue reading. At the 2023 CCW GGE on LAWS, the Netherlands said that ‘we need to show the world that a large majority of states want to establish international rules and principles’ for autonomous weapons, and that ‘regulation is required. The main objective of this regulation should be to ensure that sufficient human judgment and control is maintained when such systems are developed and used.'^[2]Statement by the Netherlands, CCW GGE on LAWS, 6 March 2023,  … Continue reading

At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, the Netherlands said that ‘Further regulation is required and autonomous weapons that cannot be used in accordance with international humanitarian law should be explicitly prohibited.’t^[3]Statement by the Netherlands, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 11 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/11Oct_Netherlands.pdf. In a subsequent statement at the same forum, the Netherlands stated that ‘we advocate that those autonomous weapons that cannot be used in accordance with international humanitarian law should be explicitly prohibited. For those that are in accordance with IHL, we argue that regulation is required, based on clear definitions.'^[4]Statement by the Netherlands, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, 20 October 2022, … Continue reading In another statement at the 2022 First Committee meeting, the Netherlands said that the international community needs ‘to strengthen the international governance around the development, deployment and use of artificial intelligence in the military domain.'^[5]Statement by the Netherlands, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 24 October 2022, https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1s/k1s8hkl4pp

At the 2021 UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, the Netherlands stated that it shares ‘the common understanding among States Parties that humans must have some form of control over autonomous weapons to ensure compliance with International Humanitarian and Human Rights Laws.’^[6]Statement by the Netherlands, UN General Assembly First Committee, 12 October 2021, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com21/statements/12Oct_Netherlands.pdf The Netherlands has stated that autonomous weapons systems should be under meaningful human control to ensure that they can be used in compliance with International Humanitarian Law.’^[7]Statement by the Netherlands, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 28 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-28-09-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to … Continue reading