Heinsch, Robert --- "Modern drone warfare and the geographical scope of application of IHL: pushing the limits of territorial boundaries?" [2017] ELECD 1272; in Ohlin, David Jens (ed), "Research Handbook on Remote Warfare" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 79

Book Title: Research Handbook on Remote Warfare

Editor(s): Ohlin, David Jens

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784716981

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Modern drone warfare and the geographical scope of application of IHL: pushing the limits of territorial boundaries?

Author(s): Heinsch, Robert

Number of pages: 31

Abstract/Description:

The ‘war’ against international terrorism, but also the rapid development of new weapons technologies, has led to a change in the way that hostilities are conducted, especially in the last 10 to 20 years. The times where wars were fought as an inter-state conflict, with man-to-man combat on a clearly defined battleground with the object to obtain territory, seem to be over. Nowadays, more and more fighting activities take place by using remote controlled drones and other comparable weapons systems. As a result, we now witness an increasing distance between the initiator and the target of an attack, for example, the targeted killing of potential terrorists in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan or in the outskirts of Somalia and Yemen by drones which are controlled from an operation center far removed from the targets, such as in the United States, the Sahel-region, or in the United Arab Emirates. The questions that arise for international humanitarian law (IHL) are whether these scenarios have to be seen (1) within the scope of IHL, and if so, whether (2) the existing rules are still able to deal with this type of weapon, or whether we need a reform of the current IHL regime. This chapter will focus primarily on the first question, and examine whether we have to think about expanding the concept of the geographical scope of IHL, or whether the current system is sufficient to cover all situations which are connected with remote warfare in armed conflict situations.