We specialise in the legal review of new weapons, including autonomous weapons and AI command decision tools.

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Lawful by Design - Responsible Military Innovation

Article 36 Legal helps defence innovators bring new military technologies from concept to capability—lawfully, responsibly, and without costly delays or redesigns.

Veteran-owned and Australia-based, we specialise in international humanitarian law (IHL), Article 36 legal reviews, and export control compliance. Our expertise bridges the gap between cutting-edge engineering and the legal obligations that govern the use of weapons, autonomous systems, and AI-enabled decision-support tools.

Founded in 2019 as International Weapons Review Pty Ltd, we deliver clear, practical, and technically informed guidance—so you can meet legal requirements, protect your reputation, and win the trust of customers and governments.

From prototype to deployment, we make lawful design a competitive advantage.

New technology weapons, including autonomous weapons, raise unique legal risks.

Autonomous and AI-enabled weapons (AWS), as well as decision-support systems (DSS), must be designed to comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law (IHL).

Under international law, states are obligated to assess the legality of all weapons before their deployment in armed conflict.

Integrating a client’s international humanitarian law (IHL) obligations into the design and development of weapons, including AWS and DSS, makes commercial sense as it helps ensure the capability can successfully pass the acquiring State’s legal review.

With our support, you can embed your client’s IHL requirements into the system design from the outset avoiding costly R&D investments in systems that meet performance specifications but fail legal review.

 Our services

We are the leading advisors to defence industry, states and organisations on the legal review of new weapons.

We can provide you with a detailed legal review report to inform investment decisions or identify legal review issues to address in a tender proposal.
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Article 36 legal input to Capability Design and Development

Article 36 and IHL Training

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Pre-investment due diligence and pre-tender bid Article 36 compliance report