In a landslide vote (534 to 49), the European Parliament has passed a Resolution on drones, targeted killings, and fully autonomous weapons.

Stay tuned for a post from one of the leading experts on the topic, Anthony Dworkin. Many readers will be familiar with Dworkin’s influential policy paper, Drones and Targeted Killing: Defining a European Position (2013).

In the meantime, here are highlights of some of the most significant parts of the Resolution (with my emphasis added):

1. Obligations for Post-Strike Investigations and Transparency:

“in the event of allegations of civilian deaths as a result of drone strikes, states are under the obligation to conduct prompt, independent investigations and, if the allegations are proved correct, to proceed to public attribution of responsibility, punishment of those responsible and provision of access to redress”

2. Geographic Restrictions on Targeted Killings:

“drone strikes outside a declared war by a state on the territory of another state without the consent of the latter or of the UN Security Council constitute a violation of international law and of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of that country;” “international humanitarian law does not permit the targeted killing of persons who are located in non-belligerent states”

3. Action Items on a European Position: