Download This PaperUnmanned Aerial Vehicles
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Rüdiger Wolfrum, ed., Oxford University Press, Forthcoming
10 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2015
Date Written: March 24, 2015
Abstract
International law continues to be preoccupied with questions surrounding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or, as UAVs are colloquially referred to, drones. This entry in the Encyclopedia of Public International Law explores the history and the international legal issues of UAVs in their varied uses, both civilian and military.
With regard to the latter it analyzes, inter alia, the legal requirements under international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The article also references debates concerning accountability, transparency and the use of UAVs in connection with targeted killing policies. The entry concludes that the legal questions raised by the use of combat UAVs form part of a wider political debate about the use of modern technology in armed conflict.
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles, UAV, UAVs, drones, international human rights law, human rights, international humanitarian law, IHL, law of armed conflict, LOAC
JEL Classification: H56
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