HLS PILAC’s Research Director, Dustin A. Lewis, participated in an expert exchange on “Legal Review of Weapons in the Context of Decentralized Development, Acquisition, Deployment, and Modification” convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Kyiv on 15 April 2026.

The exchange brought together legal advisers, military practitioners, and technical experts to examine how evolving models of weapons development — including decentralized innovation ecosystems and the integration of AI-enabled decision-support tools — may affect the implementation of legal-review obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL).

Participants explored a range of practical and conceptual questions, including how expanded roles for non-traditional actors interact with legal-review processes and how reliance on AI systems shapes compliance with IHL. They also considered how review mechanisms can remain effective in environments where systems are updated on an ongoing basis rather than introduced as fixed capabilities.

During the exchange, Mr. Lewis focused on the legal structure governing the administration of IHL obligations, emphasizing that those obligations continue to be carried out by human decision-makers exercising sufficient cognitive agency where AI systems are used. He underscored the importance of articulating, for specific IHL obligations, how that condition of legality is maintained in practice. And he introduced ongoing work on a new structured tool to support such analysis and to facilitate engagement across legal, technical, and operational communities.