Modern warfare has outrun its legal framework. FPV drones and autonomous systems have brought the battlefield to aid workers, journalists, and mobile investigative teams in ways that artillery and missiles never did. Yet the rules designed to protect these frontline civilians were written for a different era — and in some cases, they now leave those same people exposed to criminal prosecution simply for trying to stay alive.
On 16 July, Daily Humanity brings together leading legal experts and practitioners for a live conversation on whether international humanitarian law can keep pace with the unmanned systems age — and what needs to change to protect the people caught between mission and survival.
The panel will examine why the new generation of drone warfare doesn't fit existing IHL frameworks, how journalists and aid workers are being targeted by FPV and other drone types while being legally prohibited from protecting themselves, and whether the international criminal justice system is adapting fast enough. Discussion will also turn to the tension between humanitarian law's limitations and the duty of care organisations owe their people in the field — and what a viable legal and operational framework for civilian protection in the drone era should look like.
Speakers (more to be announced):
- Inna Berezkina — Moderator, Head of Programmes at School of Civic Education
- Nigel Povoas — Leading international lawyer and King's Counsel, specialist in the investigation and prosecution of atrocity crimes and first-tier transnational organised crime & terrorism
- Ilya Nuzov — International Humanitarian Law expert, Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk, International Federation for Human Rights
- Andriy Dubchak — War Reporter, Founder, Frontliner Media
This session is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
The event is being organised by Daily Humanity with the support of the School of Civic Education and Austausch e.V.