Agora 14: International Law and New Technologies

Rapidly developing new information technologies impact international law in various ways. On the one hand, they offer incredible potential, such as the use of evidence gathering in the field of international criminal law, and they open up new approaches, such as emission checks/controls in international environmental law. On the other hand, new information technologies pose various challenges to international law; for example, cross-boundary data protection/data transfers challenge human rights/privacy rights, while espionage, drone attacks/cyber war/armed robots challenge international humanitarian law and defy basic concepts of international law, such as attribution, state/individual responsibility, etc.
This agora will focus on questions including: What are the challenges posed to international law by new technologies? Is there a need for additional regulation? Do new technologies require the development of new standards? To what extent do new technologies imply a necessary re-conceptualization of traditional international law approaches (e.g. as regards attribution/responsibility)? What is the potential of new technologies to usefully contribute to international law?