State dossier
Germany
DEU · GERMANY · on the world map
What does it want?
Position: wants a treaty with bans (LBI-BAN). Supports a legally binding treaty that prohibits some systems.
Wants a treaty with bans (LBI-BAN), since 2024-05-24, stated directly (EXPLICIT)
Germany's submission to the UN Secretary-General supports a treaty in the Geneva convention that bans autonomous weapons that cannot comply with the laws of war, and separately supports a new protocol banning weapons that operate outside human control, with regulation for the rest. It states in its own words that the decision over life and death must be made by humans.
Germany supports a CCW additional protocol prohibiting LAWS outside human control.
Germany supports the creation of an additional protocol to the CCW that entails the prohibition of LAWS operating outside of human control
UN Secretary-General's Report on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS): Germany's national contribution, 2024-05-24 source
The human-decision principle grounds the German position.
The decision over life and death must be made by humans.
UN Secretary-General's Report on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS): Germany's national contribution, 2024-05-24 source
Germany looks to the next mandate to advance work on an instrument on LAWS.
advancing and deepening our collective work on a meaningful instrument regarding the lethal autonomous weapon systems
Preparatory Committee of the Seventh CCW Review Conference, 3rd meeting, automatic speech recognition transcript, 2026-09-08 source
Germany refers to future negotiations of an instrument.
we would have rather seen any provisions regarding exceptions in the context of actual negotiations of an instrument rather than in the rolling text.
CCW GGE on LAWS 2026, first session, 4th meeting, automatic speech recognition transcript, 2026-03-03 source
Shown large among its peers · hover a mark for its position
How did it vote?
Yes on all three UN votes on autonomous weapons.
Hover a legend chip to light those votes · each resolution links to its record
What has it signed?
Being on a list is a fact. Not being on one is not opposition.
Hover a column heading to light its signings · click a seal to open the document
When has it spoken?
Every time it went on the record, dated.
Hover a mark for what it was · a legend chip lights that type
What rules has it written at home?
Its own military policy.
No published military policy on weapon autonomy found by this site, as of 2026-07-17.
German security analysts themselves note that Germany has no national directive on weapon autonomy of the kind the US has. Germany's position lives in its coalition agreement and its international submissions, not in a domestic rulebook.
The record
The documents on file.
Each mark opens its source