Comment by Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)

At first, lethal autonomous weapons systems that cannot guarantee use in conformity with international humanitarian law — that is, systems that are intrinsically indiscriminate; systems whose effects cannot be limited, anticipated and controlled; systems of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering; and systems operating outside any human control and a responsible chain of command (fully autonomous lethal weapon systems) — should be prohibited. In a second phase, lethal weapons systems integrating autonomy, to which military command may entrust the execution of tasks related to critical functions (identification, selection and engagement of targets) within a specific framework of action (so‑called “partially” autonomous lethal weapons), should be regulated by implementing appropriate national measures throughout the system’s life cycle to ensure, in particular, that their development and use will be in accordance with international humanitarian law, while preserving human control as well as human responsibility and accountability.