From today, government delegates are in Geneva for the annual meeting of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) to discuss whether to continue multilateral talks on questions relating to Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS).

While opposition to LAWS – also known as ‘killer robots’ – is strong and calls for outright banning, it’s also essential that governments have well-considered guidance on the general policy direction around these technologies.

In a new policy memo, the Blavatnik School’s Dr Tom Simpson and Prof Vincent Müller make the case for regulation rather than ban. A former officer with the UK Royal Marines Commandos and a former conscientious objector to German National Service respectively, Simpson and Müller argue that now is a crucial time to ensure an agreement on regulation, while development, application and use of these technologies are under debate.

The authors claim that LAWS are bound to become widespread in the near future, and ensuring that these systems operate in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law is essential to be better prepared for what is already a reality. Besides providing technology and legal background, the new policy memo outlines five policy recommendations for regulating ‘killer robots’:

1. Establish an international technical standards agency that will maintain the specifications agreed for laws reliability.
2. Establish national technical standards and licensing bodies that will draw on the institutional power of those bodies that regulate civil autonomous robotics.
3. Extend war crimes legal instruments to the illegitimate use of LAWS, including the use and distribution of technologies that don’t comply to standards and the malign or negligent use.
4. Permit the distribution of LAWS only when there is a better than human performance: civilians must be exposed to less risks when LAWS are in action than when humans.
5. Permit the use of LAWS for killing only when there is compelling military reason.

According to the authors, “there is a strong moral imperative for ensuring that regulation precedes tragedy, rather than coming only as a response.”

The UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons takes place in Geneva from 10 to 14 November 2014.

Read more about Dr Simpson's and Prof Müller's research on lethal autonomous weapons.

Read more about Dr Tom Simpson.