Drones and Other Unmanned Weapons Systems under International Law: (53 International Humanitarian Law Series)

Drone strikes have become a key feature of counterterrorism operations in an increasing number of countries. This work explores the various domestic and international legal regimes that govern the manufacture, transfer, and use of armed drones as well as fully autonomous weapons systems where computer algorithms decide who or what to target and when to fire.

Table of Contents:
List of Treaties Soft-Law Instruments List of Cases United Nations Resolutions Introduction Stuart Casey-Maslen 1 Development, Use, and Transfer of Unmanned Weapons Systems Stuart Casey-Maslen 2 Legality of Use of Armed Unmanned Systems in Law Enforcement Stuart Casey-Maslen 3 Armed Unmanned Weapons Systems under Jus ad Bellum Stuart Casey-Maslen 4 Armed Drones and the Law of Armed Conflict Nathalie Weizmann 5 Ensuring Fully Autonomous Weapons Systems Comply with the Rule of Distinction in Attack Maziar Homayounnejad 6 Unmanned Weapons Systems and the Right to Life Stuart Casey-Maslen 7 Corporate Liability: An Alternative Path to Accountability? Hilary Stauffer 8 Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Criminal Law Stuart Casey-Maslen Index

About the Author :
Stuart Casey-Maslen is Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Pretoria where he specialises in the use of force under international law. He holds a PhD in international humanitarian law, an LLM in international human rights law, and an MSc in forensic ballistics. Maziar Homayounnejad is a PhD student at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London, where he has primary research interests in the law of armed conflict, particularly on issues of new weapon systems and targeting law. Hilary Stauffer is an international lawyer who serves as Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of the Coordination and Response Division at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York. She was previously the Deputy Director of Reprieve’s human rights and counterterrorism team in the United Kingdom, covering the issues of detention at Guantanamo Bay and the use of armed drones. She has a BA in International Affairs and a JD with a concentration in International Law. Nathalie Weizmann is Senior Legal Officer at OCHA in New York. Prior to that, she was Senior Director of the Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict and Human Rights Project at Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, also in New York. For seven years, she was a legal adviser with the International Committee of the Red Cross, both at Geneva headquarters and in the field. She is a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Law and Geneva’s Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies.