Autonomous weapons systems under humanitarian law

Abstract

International humanitarian law regulates the conduct of hostilities during armed conflicts by striking a balance between the inevitable brutality of war and humanitarian considerations by restricting the use of force, it doesn't intend to prevent the use of force, it permits it to the extent necessary to achieve a certain military advantage. Autonomous weapons systems are new in international armed conflict and therefore, there is considerable disagreement as to their nature and the extent to which the current laws are sufficient to regulate them and in particular international humanitarian law, and therefore the time of conventional weapons has come to an end and new weapons of high precision has emerged and used in contemporary armed conflicts, namely autonomous weapon systems but these weapons Despite its usefulness,  have generated discussions in the international community about their compatibility with or exposure to the principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the principle of humanity, the principle of military necessity, the principle of proportionality and the principle of discrimination. Can they take care of human self-inherent humanity, can they reconcile between military necessity and humanitarian considerations, and can they make a distinction between civilians and military personnel when they attack, which is what we will answer in our study.