Lieblich & Benvenisti: An Administrative Law Approach to the Problem of Autonomous Weapons Systems

Eliav Lieblich (Interdisciplinary Center - Radzyner School of Law) & Eyal Benvenisti (Tel Aviv Univ. - Law) have posted An Administrative Law Approach to the Problem of Autonomous Weapons Systems. Here's the abstract:

This paper analyzes the current problematic discourse on the legality of autonomous weapons system (“killer robots”) under international law, and seeks to offer a novel prism through which to discuss the challenges such systems pose, namely the view that modern warfare is as an exercise of administrative action. Most wars nowadays are fought between state and non-state actors, and armed violence is limited neither spatially nor temporally. In virtually all instances where autonomous weapons are likely to be deployed, advanced militaries will engage non-accountable non-state actors, operating within an unprotected civilian population in failing states or territories. Mainly in such situations, the deployment of autonomous weapons can be analyzed in light of basic principles of administrative law, such as the duty to exercise discretion before acting and the right to a due process. As we demonstrate, these principles are compromised when the power to make “decisions” that affect basic rights are transferred to computer systems.