The present book brings together perspectives from different disciplinary 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 spectre of shooting down hijacked airplanes) and the use of force in Operation Kratos that led to the tragic shooting of Jean Charles de 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-defence and 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 continually 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 authorise pre-emptive use of force, and how necessity and reasonableness are legally constructed in this context.

PART I: THEORETICAL AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVESChapter 1The Rule of Law, Legal Positivism and States of EmergencyTom CampbellChapter 2Civil Emergencies and the Claims of InnocenceJohn Kleinig and Tziporah KasachkoffChapter 3The Right to Life Between Absolute and Proportional ProtectionKai MöllerChapter 4Can States Commit Crimes?Andrew VincentChapter 5Law, Death and Denial in the 'Global War on Terror'Russell HoggPART II: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR SHOOTING TO KILLChapter 6Sooting to Kill Innocents: Necessity, Self-Defence and Duress in the Commonwealth Criminal CodeIan Leader-ElliottChapter 7Regulating Reasonable Force: Policing in the Shadows of the LawSimon Bronitt and Miriam GaniChapter 8When Shooting to Kill is Authorised by the State: A Feminist AnalysisKylie Weston-ScheuberChapter 9Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Difference: Comparing the Right to Human Dignity and Criminal Liability inGermany and AustraliaSaskia HufnagelPart III Shooting to Kill in Context: Case StudiesChapter 10The Fatal Police Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes: Is Anyone Responsible?Ian Gordon and Seumas MillerChapter 11The Use of Lethal Force in Counter-Piracy Operations off SomaliaDouglas Guilfoyle and Andrew MurdochChapter 12Unlawful Killing with Combat Drones: A Case Study of Pakistan, 2004-2009Mary Ellen O'ConnellChapter 13Corporations that Kill: Prosecuting BlackwaterDavid Kinley and Odette Murray