Alla ricerca dell’elemento umano: rinnovato il mandato del Gruppo di esperti governativi sui sistemi d’arma autonomi letali

The Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, held from 21 to 23 November 2018, decided to renew for the year 2019 the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) with regard to emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems. The present paper critically overviews the debate at the GGE, paying particular attention to the discussion on the definition of autonomous weapons systems and the so-called “human element” in the use of force. It argues in favour of a broad definition of autonomy, i.e. one based on the capability of a weapon to perform the critical functions of selecting and engaging targets without human intervention. It aims at providing some insights on the level of human control required by international law. The study concludes by observing that, while the renewal of the GGE’s mandate is an undoubtedly positive step, the timeframe of the discussions to be held next year is largely inadequate to cope with the complexity of the pending issues.