Chapter

Modern means of warfare : the need to rely upon international humanitarian law, disarmament, and non-proliferation law to achieve a decent regulation of weapons

Natalino Ronzitti

Realizing utopia : the future of international law

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2012

p. 553-570

English

The problem with traditional criteria for restricting the use of certain weapons is that they are unclear and thus unable to set a prohibition, or that they are obsolete, since they regulate weapons no more in use or of no specific military value. At present disarmament and international humanitarian law (IHL) employ two different techniques for regulating weapons. While disarmament prohibits the build-up and stock-piling of weapons, IHL regulates their use. A topical issue is that of the use of drones. They should be operated in conformity with rules of IHL and kept under control. With regard to possible future changes, it must be said that IHL is not the only way to achieve decent regulations of weapons. Arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament intruments should be used to achieve a more suitable result. The choice of instruments available is also important. The indeterminacy and lacunae of customary international law makes it ill-suited for disarmament. Treaties are necessary for IHL, that is, for prohibiting the use of specific weapons. However, one should also rely on soft law for managing non-proliferation regimes and even arms control.

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• Realizing utopia : the future of international law / ed. by Antonio Cassese