The battle not for death, but for life: lethal v. non-lethal weapons. Legal analysis of the use of weapons.

Abstract

Due to the development of technology and the latest research in medicine, states have wide opportunities in choosing weapons that can be used during the conduct of hostilities or in other situations requiring a settlement with the help of weapons. Recently, there has been a real chance to use the advantages of non-lethal weapons - weapons designed not to destroy the enemy, but to remove him from participation in hostilities. However, non-lethal weapons have a number of advantages and disadvantages.

In this article, the author compares some features of the use of lethal and non-lethal types of weapons and finds out which type of weapons shows itself to be the most effective in different aspects. The article deals with events that take place both during an armed conflict and in peacetime (accordingly, depending on the context, situations are studied through the prism of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and the national legislation of states).

The author concludes that despite the equal number of advantages and disadvantages of both types of weapons, priority should be given to the use of non-lethal weapons due to their more human nature. The author also emphasises the need for a comprehensive study of each case of the use of non-lethal weapons, since a uniform practice of using this type of weapons, due to its relative "novelty", has not yet been formed.