The Legal Status of Laser Weapons That Blind

In response to growing concerns over the production, deployment, and use of laser weapons that cause blinding, the international community in 1995 convened an international conference to restrict the use and transfer of blinding laser weapons. The result was the Fourth Additional Protocol to the 1980 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. In doing so, a significant step was taken towards restricting the intentional blinding of combatants in time of war. This article provides a review of the process by which the Fourth Additional Protocol was drafted and an analysis of its legal impact on the use of laser weapon systems.