United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR): published a research on the relationship between International Humanitarian Law and Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
On June 15, 2026, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) published a compendium of scenarios dedicated to the analysis of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS)—that is, military systems capable of selecting and attacking targets without direct human intervention. The publication focuses on a central issue for the protection of human rights in armed conflicts: how international humanitarian law (IHL) can and should regulate the use of such systems, ensuring that the use of force remains subject to legal accountability and human oversight.
UNIDIR is a voluntarily funded, autonomous institute within the United Nations. As one of the few policy institutes worldwide focusing on disarmament, UNIDIR generates knowledge and promotes dialogue and action on disarmament and security, assisting the international community in developing the practical, innovative ideas needed to find solutions to critical security problems.
Advances in science and technology are reshaping the ways in which military force is developed and employed. Recent breakthroughs in areas such as artificial intelligence, sensing, and data processing are enabling new forms of military capability, including systems that can perform functions with varying degrees of autonomy. In this context, the United Nations Secretary-General, in his New Agenda for Peace, called for the prohibition of lethal autonomous weapons systems that function without human control or oversight and cannot be used in compliance with IHL, placing humanitarian law compliance at the very centre of the international debate.
The publication offers a comprehensive, neutral, and technical resource for States, organized around realistic illustrations of how IHL principles and obligations may be considered in practice. The scenarios examine situations of both international and non-international armed conflict across three domains of warfare: air, land, and naval.
The compendium is organized into three volumes:
- Introduction and User Guide: features a background to the discussions on LAWS and IHL, including the status of multilateral discussions, as well as information on the compendium's objectives, structure, and how to use the scenarios.
- International Armed Conflict: includes scenario catalogues grouped by domain (land, naval, and air).
- Non-International Armed Conflict: includes scenario catalogues grouped by domain (land, naval, and air).
This Scenario Compendium has been developed as an analytical tool to support States and the wider international community in exploring these complex issues. It will also help States to subsequently identify, adopt, and implement specific measures to foster and enhance compliance with IHL. Amid growing calls to uphold compliance in alignment with the fundamental purpose of IHL, to limit the effects of armed conflict for humanitarian reasons, the need for concrete measures has become an operational necessity.
Ultimately, by providing a common reference point for analysis, this Scenario Compendium aims to support more structured and informed dialogue among States and other stakeholders, contributing to ongoing international efforts to better understand the implications of autonomy in the use of force and to ensure that its development and use remain consistent with international law.