Ebook: Shooting to Kill: Socio-Legal Perspectives on the Use of Lethal Force

This book brings together perspectives from different legal fields to examine the significant legal, moral, and political issues which arise in relation to the use of lethal force in both domestic and international law. These issues have particular salience in the counter-terrorism context following 9/11 (which brought with it the specter of shooting down hijacked airplanes), and the use of force by London's Metropolitan Police Service in Operation Kratos that led to the tragic shooting of Charles Menezes. Concerns about the use of excessive force, however, are not confined to the terrorist situation. The essays in this collection examine how the State sanctions the use of lethal force in varied ways: through the doctrines of public and private self-defense, as well as the development of legislation and case law that excuses or justifies the use of lethal force in the course of executing an arrest, preventing crime or disorder, or protecting private property. An important theme is how the domestic and international legal orders intersect and continue to influence one another. While legal approaches to the use of lethal force share common features, the context within which force is deployed varies greatly. Key issues explored in this volume are the extent to which domestic and international law authorize preemptive use of force, and how necessity and reasonableness are legally constructed in this context. (Series: Onati International Series in Law and Society)