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J Transp Secur (2014) 7:8398
DOI 10.1007/s12198-013-0131-1
Ruwantissa Abeyratne & Arman Khan
Received: 20 November 2013 /Accepted: 4 December 2013 /Published online: 17 December 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract In October 2013, CNN reported that 400 civilians had been killed in Pakistan by unmanned aircraft (UA) (Unmanned aircraft are sometimes referred to in this article as drones) since President Obama took office in 2009. Transnational legal theory suggests that such attacks are illegal and, in 2009, the United Nations special rapporteur on extra judicial killings suggested that the use of drones by the Obama administration in Afghanistan and Pakistan was untenable and contrary to international law. The underlying concerns with regard to legal issues are state sovereignty, responsibility, and liability. One of the contentious issues would be whether unmanned aircraft flying outside their permitted areas violate state sovereignty, and if sowhat can be done to prevent future UA violations of sovereignty of the airspace. Another would be, as earlier mentioned, whether the killings carried out by drones amount to extra judicial killings. The focus of this article is on legal challenges and whether military functions of UA can be brought under international regulation. Despite the inherent advantages of this relatively new mode of aviationsuch as camouflage, low cost, and the avoidance of risk to the pilot on board in UA operationsserious concerns abound, which go to the heart of the law of humanity. This article addresses these concerns from a legal perspective.
R. Abeyratne
Global Aviation Consultancies Inc, Montreal, QC, Canada
R. Abeyratne
Air Law and Policy, Aviation Strategies International, Montreal, QC, Canada
R. Abeyratne (*)
International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal, QC, Canada e-mail: [email protected]
A. Khan
Institute of Air and Space Law Association, Montreal, QC, Canada e-mail: [email protected]
A. Khan
Grace Foundation, Brampton, ON, Canada
A. Khan
CBMC, Montreal, QC, Canada
State use of unmanned military aircraft: a new international order?
84 R. Abeyratne, A. Khan
Keywords Drones . Remotely piloted aircraft . Military aviation . ICAO . Terrorism . Politics
Introduction
The problem of drones1 has indeed become contentious. A compelling argument is that killing of humans, whether they fall into the category of terrorists or not, is premeditated murder. In many jurisdictions around the world premeditated murder is...