In this episode, Dr Lauren Sanders speaks with Professor Stuart Casey-Maslen about Directed Energy Weapons. They traverse the existing legal controls on these weapons, and speak about the potential for future regulation of novel uses of energy weapons in armed conflict. 

This conversation preceded a presentation by Dr Casey-Maslen, Dr Sanders and  Dr Altman for UNIDIR, which was a side event to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Meeting of States Parties, held in November 2023. 

Stuart Casey-Maslen is an international lawyer and Professor at the University of Pretoria, specialising in the use of force and the protection of civilians, and he has published numerous books and articles on this topic. He is also an Associate Fellow within the Global Fellowship Initiative of the GCSP. 

Additional Resources: 

• United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, 01 June 2020.
• ICRC Expert Meeting on Legal Reviews of Weapons and the SlrUS Project.
• A/78/324: Thematic study on the global trade in weapons, equipment and devices used by law enforcement and other public authorities that are capable of inflicting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 24 Aug 23.