The 19th Conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) took place in Vilnius on 5-6 September 2024. The theme of this year's conference was "Technological Change and International Law".

Researchers from different countries, national and international institutions and non-governmental organisations discussed how technological progress affects international law. They also discussed extensively the issues of cybersecurity, data protection, artificial intelligence and the regulation of other emerging technologies in the context of global challenges.

The event was also attended by Dr Agnė Limantė, Senior Research Fellow at the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences. Her presentation "Facial Recognition Technology in Russia's War Against Ukraine: from Awareness Raising to Evidence before the Courts" brought together two significant subjects - technological advances and Russia's war in Ukraine.

According to A. Limantė, facial recognition technologies in Ukraine are used for counter-intelligence, identification of individuals (victims, detained soldiers and civilians) and counter-propaganda. "Although currently used only for information gathering and validation in the battlefield, in future wars it could become a weapon if integrated into the drones used in combat operations," the Institute's researcher said.

However, information gathered on the battlefield can be used for more than just military purposes. Data obtained through facial recognition technologies can become evidence in court proceedings. During the presentation, the researcher not only analysed the conditions created in Ukraine for using such data, but also discussed the emerging challenges of accuracy, privacy and ethics.

Yuliia Moskvytyn, an intern at the LCSS Law Institute (under the UPinLT internship programme) contributed to the preparation of the paper by collecting data.

The presentation is based on the publication "Faces of War: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Military Use of Facial Recognition Technology" by Dr. Agnė Limante, published in the book "The Cambridge Handbook of Facial Recognition in the Modern State" (eds. Rita Matulionytė and Monika Žalnieriūtė).