'International Humanitarian Law and the Changing Technology of War, Part III: Autonomous Weapons and Responsibility Under International Law': Professor Dan Saxon

On Wednesday 1st May 2013 Professor Dan Saxon, Visiting Professor at the University of Leiden spoke at an event held by the Hughes Hall Hat Club. The last in a series of three, this talk explored the legal challenges for armed forces resulting from the development and use of new military technologies for the conduct of warfare. The late American historian William Manchester once wrote that '... no man is really a robot'. The great challenge for military professionals and legal scholars for the remainder of this century will be to ensure that robots used in armed conflict will display sufficient human qualities to fulfill the duties of international law, and to develop appropriate standards of responsibility when they do not. "Reponsibility" can mean more that holding a person or entity accountable for mistakes or misdeeds. "Responsibilty" includes other values and may also refer to a status and level of power and authority; similar to the status of "command". In this final lecture, Professor Saxon explores the levels of responsibility, if any, that humans may lawfully delegate to autonomous weapons systems, and describes the possibilities available under international law for holding persons, states and other entities accountable when autonomous weapons commit serious violations of international law.