Non-Lethal Weapons and Public International Law: A Three-Dimensional Perspective

Generally, Warfare is associated with bombs, missiles and other weapons causing unfathomable destruction. A different picture emerges when it comes to law enforcement outside the ambit of armed conflict. Police Forces use inter alia, batons, electroshock weapons and tear gas in order to gain control over people or dissolve rioters taking to the streets. Such "non-lethal weapons" are not intended to cause death or serious injuries but they should merely provide support in situations of law enforcement. In addition, non-lethal weapons have also been used frequently in warfare (despite the fact that the majority of media reports deal with lethal weapons). Despite the term "non-lethal", such weapons are also able to cause death or serious injury, both within policing scenarios and during armed hostilities. It was the aim of this dissertation to ascertain how and to what extent public international law responds to such "non-lethal" weapons. Three fields of international law are of particular relevance in this regard: Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and Disarmament Treaties. Within this thesis, the relationship between the different fields of law was analyzed and their inter-relatedness carefully explained. After a careful elaboration on the different legal regimes, guidelines were developed in order to provide lawmakers and practitioners as well as lawyers with Information on how to use these weapons in the relevant scenarios referred to above. Ultimately, it was the aim of this doctoral thesis to help avoid abuse of power while at the same time taking into consideration the realties on both the battlefied and in law enforcement scenarios.