BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20250824T174846EDT-5182pZkXNV@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20250824T214846Z DESCRIPTION:The Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at 9IÖĆ×÷ł§Ăâ·Ń Unive rsity presents: The RenĂ© Cassin lectureship in Human Rights 2022 \n\nWith Kevin Jon Heller\, moderated by FrĂ©dĂ©ric MĂ©gret\n\nIn-person\; the event w ill also be livecast\, find link here - Masks not required\; respect for o thers’ safety requested \n\nAbout the talk \n\nThe Concept of “the Human” in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons \n\nAutonomous weapons systems (AWS) – so-called “killer robots” – are no longer the stuff of science fiction. In Libya\, Syria\, Nagorno-Karabakh\, and most recently Ukraine\, states have used weapons in combat that have an autonomous mode. And it is only a matter of time before AWS become ubiquitous on the battlefield\, because the world’s most powerful states currently devote tens of billions of doll ars to developing\, manufacturing\, and even exporting increasingly sophis ticated versions of them. \n\nAs AWS have proliferated\, so have calls to prohibit their use. Some objections to AWS are legal\, such as the idea th at international humanitarian law (IHL) permits only humans to use lethal force. Others are deontological\, such as the contention that allowing mac hines to kill is inconsistent with human dignity. And still others are con sequentialist\, such as the claim that using AWS will lead to unnecessary civilian casualties because only human soldiers are capable of complying w ith IHL. \n\nDespite their differences\, all of these critiques emphasise the need for war to remain an exclusively human endeavour. The “human” the y imagine\, however\, is an idealized one: the traditional Enlightenment s ubject who is rational\, self-determining\, and capable of self-control. T hat conception of human subjectivity is contradicted by decades of researc h into how humans actually make decisions\, particularly in dangerous and stressful situations such as armed conflict. As this lecture will show\, o nce we accept humans as they are\, not how critics imagine them to be\, th e case against AWS collapses: war fought with killer robots is likely to b e far more “humane” than war fought solely by human soldiers. \n\nAbout th e speaker \n\nKevin Jon Heller is currently Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studie s and Professor of Law at the Australian National University. His books in clude The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Cr iminal Law (OUP\, 2011) and four co-edited volumes: The Handbook of Compar ative Criminal Law (Stanford University Press\, 2010)\, The Hidden Histori es of War Crimes Trials (OUP\, 2013)\, The Oxford Handbook of Internationa l Criminal Law (OUP\, 2018)\, and Contingency in International Law: On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories (OUP\, 2021). He currently serve s as Special Advisor to the ICC Prosecutor on International Criminal Law D iscourse\, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Bar Human Rights Assoc iation of England and Wales\, and has been a member of Opinio Juris\, the world’s oldest international-law blog\, for more than 15 years.  \n\nAbout the RenĂ© Cassin lectureship \n\nThe RenĂ© Cassin Lectureship is organized by the 9IÖĆ×÷ł§Ăâ·Ń Faculty of Law. In 1988\, the Alliance IsrĂ©alite Universelle  established this Lectureship to mark the centenary of the birth of RenĂ© C assin\, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. The Alliance IsrĂ©alite Universelle is one of the oldest and most distinguished human rights orga nizations\, having been founded in Paris in 1860. RenĂ© Cassin was its pres ident from 1943 to 1969. \n\nThe inaugural lecture was delivered by the Ho n. Claire l’Heureux-DubĂ©. Other speakers have included the Hon. Walter Tar nopolsky\; Ambassador Yves Fortier\; Minister Barbara McDougall (1992)\; t he Hon. Jules DeschĂŞnes\; Dr. Bernard Kouchner\; the Hon. Louise Arbour\; the Right Hon. Beverley McLachlin\; Prof. Michael Bothe\; Prof. Mireille D elmas-Marty (2006)\; Prof. Jacques Semelin (2009)\; Prof. Jon Elster (2011 )\; the Hon. Irwin Cotler (2013)\; former president of the Quebec Human Ri ghts Commission Jacques FrĂ©mont (2015)\; Prof. Philippe Sands (2018). \n\n All\, welcome. Please join us\, and please share the announcement widely. \n\nFor more information human.rights [at] mcgill.ca \n DTSTART:20220929T210000Z DTEND:20220929T223000Z LOCATION:Maxwell Cohen Moot Court\, Room 100 SUMMARY:The Concept of “the Human” in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons URL:/law/channels/event/concept-human-critique-autonom ous-weapons-341107 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR