Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:34:56.712Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Human Degradation Technologies and International Law

from Part II - Applying the Law to Some New Technologies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2018

William H. Boothby
Affiliation:
Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Get access

Summary

The use of human degradation technology as a non-lethal means of violence has been prevalent from the early periods of human history. While non-lethal in design purpose, human degradation technologies have deleterious effects on the sensory-motor function of the human body, with a potentially lethal result depending on pre-existing medical conditions or other factors such as age and gender. In the absence of any comprehensive treaty prohibiting or restricting the use of human degradation technologies in peacetime or in armed conflict, the regulation in this area remains sparse. This Chapter reviews three different legal regimes that apply to the use of human degradation technology as a non-lethal means of violence – the law of weapons governing specific classes of weapons, the law of targeting applicable both in international and non-international armed conflict, and human rights law applicable to law enforcement operations. The review identifies inconsistent approaches regarding the threshold question of the applicability of each body of law – owing to the unique character of the technologies’ intended use, design purpose or harmful effects – which, together with the varying degrees of uncertainty associated with the lethal effect of these weapons, present an inherent limit to the regulation of human degradation technology as a means of violence.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×