Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-5lx2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-30T01:52:08.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Identifying Legal Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2020

Tim McFarland
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Canberra
Get access

Summary

This chapter links the distinguishing technological features of autonomous machines, identified in the previous chapter, to matters which are the subject of legal regulation: the decisions and actions of combatants, and the behaviour of weapon systems. It outlines the effects that weapon autonomy I likely to have on military decision-making processes and discusses the novel sources of risk and modes of failure associated with operating complex autonomous machines in combat. The problem of how to categorise autonomous weapons for legal purposes is addressed, as a response to suggestions by some commentators that weapon systems which are able to ‘step into the shoes’ of soldiers in some respects should perhaps be considered to be something more than just weapons when assessing their legal compliance. Finally, the conditions under which use of autonomous weapons may transgress the law are identified, as preparation for the detailed legal analysis to follow in the remainder of the book.

Type
Chapter
Information
Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict
Compatibility with International Humanitarian Law
, pp. 57 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Identifying Legal Issues
  • Tim McFarland
  • Book: Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict
  • Online publication: 17 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108584654.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Identifying Legal Issues
  • Tim McFarland
  • Book: Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict
  • Online publication: 17 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108584654.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Identifying Legal Issues
  • Tim McFarland
  • Book: Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict
  • Online publication: 17 June 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108584654.004
Available formats
×