ASMUN 2023

“ Together towards the future”

Commission guide
LAWS
First Committee of the General Assembly
(GA1st)
Inhoud
How to use this guide.................................................................................2
Committee introduction..............................................................................3
Introduction of the chairs............................................................................2
Introducing the Topic..................................................................................3
Important Definitions..................................................................................3
a. Drones.............................................................................................3
b. Self-Firing Weapon System.................................................................4
c. Arms control.....................................................................................4
d. Disarmament....................................................................................4
e. Distinction between drones and autonomous systems.............................5
Guiding Questions for your position paper5
QARMAs (Questions a Resolution Must Answer)5
Useful Sources6
Final words6
Introduction of the chairs
Lucas de Lugt
Hello everyone, I am Lucas and I will be your
chair during this conference. I am 17 years old,
and I am in bilingual VWO 6. I, just like our
other chairs, have participated in a few other
MUN's such as HSPMUN, ASMUN, and OLMUN. I
really enjoyed these experiences and hope you
guys will too. It is my first time chairing, but I
have had some practice, and I look forward to
leading your debate. I am excited for the 2023
conference of ASMUN and hope you will enjoy
it as much as I will! See you in a two weeks!
Femke Steghuis
Hi, my name is Femke Steghuis and I am 17
years old. I enjoy reading books and dancing.
I have participated in a few MUNs, like
ASMUN, OLMUN and HSPMUN, but it is my first
time organizing and chairing one. I have
enjoyed these MUNs, they have been a great
experience for me. I like that I can finally be
the one who organizes this event. I hope that
we will be able to have great discussions and
negotiations, but most of all I hope that we will
all have a great time!

How to use this guide:

This Committee Guide will serve as an introduction to the topic. Accordingly,
it is not meant to be used as an all-inclusive analysis for research, but rather
the groundwork for your own analysis and research. Try to find other
information about your country's past, present, cultural factors, political
structure, you name it...
Another important thing to remember is that your opinion might not be
similar to your country's opinion. For the sake of the debates, it is
necessary that you stick to your country's policy. Each delegate is requested
to submit a position paper prior to the conference which reflect your
research on the topic. Please take note of the rules of procedure.
Committee introduction
The First Committee of the General Assembly (GA 1st) is one of the
main committees of the General Assembly. It was created along with
five other subcommittees at the first session of the General Assembly in 1946.
In general, the committee deals with international disarmament, security
problems and other global challenges. Therefore, it is also known as the
“Disarmament and Security Committee” or DISEC.

Introducing the Topic

Robots at the trigger - that sounds like science fiction. Fact is that
around 60 countries and armies are currently working on such autonomous
lethal weapons systems. In the fractions of a second, they evaluate
available data and can thus decide precisely when and where to fire. They
cannot be distracted by anything. Human error is no longer a source of
error, and precise warfare with combat robots reduces collateral damage.
This development and the possibilities associated with it raise many questions
and ethical concerns.
Based on the experiences of recent history, it can unfortunately be assumed
that mankind will continue to wage wars. History also shows that technical
innovations have always made killing more efficient, for example the
invention of longbows, artillery, tanks, aircraft carriers or nuclear weapons. It
is widely believed that each of these new techniques brought a revolution in
military affairs because they each fundamentally changed warfare. Today,
robotics is viewed by many as a potential new military revolution, especially
in light of increasingly autonomous combat systems.
Consequently, disarmament and especially arms control must be debated,
and new treaties need to be negotiated.

Important Definitions:
a. Drones:
A drone is an unmanned aircraft. Drones are more formally known as
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft systems. Essentially,
a drone is a flying robot that can be remotely controlled or fly
autonomously
 using software-controlled flight plans in its embedded systems, that work
in conjunction with onboard sensors and global positioning system
(GPS).

b. Self-Firing Weapon System:

Self-Firing Weapon Systems, specifically known as lethal autonomous
weapons systems (LAWS), are weapons system that use artificial intelligence
to identify, select, and kill human targets without human intervention.
Whereas drones are controlled by humans, LAWS act solely based on
algorithms.

c. Arms control:
Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the
development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small
arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms
control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which
seeks to impose such limitations upon consenting participants through
international treaties and agreements, although it may also comprise
efforts by a nation or group of nations to enforce limitations upon a
non-consenting country.

Arms control may be utilized to attain four goals:

i. The reduction of the possibility of war through imposing
limits on weapons proliferation that may lead to
destabilization or the occurrence of preventive
offensives
ii. The lessening of civilian suffering and the general
destruction resulting from war
iii. General cuts in expenditure on arms
iv. The building of confidence and trust among states

d. Disarmament:
Disarmament is the traditional term for the elimination, as well as the
limitation or reduction (through negotiation of an international agreement),
of the means by which nations wage war. The term arms control was
coined in the 1950s to denote an international agreement to limit the
arms race, in particular the nuclear arms race between the United States
and the Soviet Union, following recognition that general and complete
nuclear disarmament would not be readily achieved. Arms control
originally was meant to denote internationally agreed rules limiting the
arms competition rather than reversing it; it had a connotation distinct
from the reduction or elimination of armaments (i.e. disarmament).
Indeed, the term “arms control” was not popular with a number of
supporters of disarmament. Subsequently, however, the meaning of the
 term has become significantly broadened, and is now commonly used
to denote international agreements which are intended to:
 freeze, limit or abolish specific categories of weapons
 prevent certain military activities
 regulate the deployment of forces
 reduce the risk of an accidental war etc.

e. Distinction between drones and autonomous systems:

In the case of drones, both the payload and the aircraft itself are
operated by the pilot or payload operator by remote control. Here, the
degree of autonomy of drones is constantly evolving through
technology, so that some can now independently fly pre-programmed
flight routes or automatically track an intended target, for example by
using a laser target marker. These are automatic or human-supervised
systems. In contrast, we speak of autonomous or semi- autonomous
systems as soon as the system makes the decision on the selection of
the target or the determination of the flight route independently, i.e., the
system no longer requires human operation or authorization regarding the
specific application. In the case of drones, however, this technology has
not yet been applied to either the control of the missile or the
operation of the payload. The selection or decision is still made by a
person.

Guiding Questions for your position paper

 What access possibilities does your country have to such systems?
 Does your country see negatives to these systems?
 Does your country develop and/or produce Drones and/or Self-Firing
Weapon Systems?
 What moral and ethical objections has your country and how does it
deal with them?
 What are the legal objections and responsibilities considered by your county?
 What are the technical problems your country is concerned about?

QARMAs (Questions a Resolution Must Answer)

1. Who would be responsible if we install such systems?
2. Should countries be allowed to use these systems?
3. Who checks if the countries adhere to the regulations made?
4. How can it be assured that these weapons won’t fall into the wrong hands?
5. How should countries protect their citizens from attacks by these drones?
Useful Sources
https://www.un.org/disarmament/the-convention-on-certain-conventional-
weapons/background-on-laws-in-the-ccw/
https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/role-united-nations-addressing-emerging-
technologies-area-lethal-autonomous-weapons
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/pros-
and-cons-of-autonomous-weapons-systems.pdf

Final words
We are looking forward seeing you at ASMUN 2023 and we hope to have
some interesting debates and good resolutions. The committee guide
should help you to familiarize yourself with the topic and get motivated
to learn more about provisions for ensuring safe access into, operation in,
and return from outer space.
If you have any questions regarding your preparation for the committee
and the conference itself, please feel free to contact us
(contact@asmun.nl)