Shoot to kill? Targeted killings in Constitutional and International Law
The African Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice (ACTCJ), in collaboration with the Department of Public Law and Jurisprudence at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), invites you to a hybrid seminar exploring the legal and ethical dimensions of targeted killings.
The seminar, titled “Shoot to kill? Targeted killings in Constitutional and International Law”, will be presented by Prof Dominik Steiger of the Technical University of Dresden, who also serves as an Extraordinary Professor in the UWC Faculty of Law.
Venezuelans drug traffickers, Ali Khamenei, Usama bin Laden, a plane hijacked by terrorists heading towards a nuclear power plant. Might the State use lethal force? The discussion about so-called targeted killings cannot be answered by applying only constitutional law. International law, especially the prohibition of the use of force, human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, must also be considered. While these areas of law traditionally have been kept separate, we will look at their interaction in order to answer the question: under what circumstances may a state shoot to kill?
Date: Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Time: 13:00 (SAST)
Venue: Kader Asmal Moot Court (Hybrid)
Click here to reserve your seat
The African Centre for Transnational Criminal Justice (ACTCJ), in collaboration with the Department of Public Law and Jurisprudence at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), invites you to a hybrid seminar exploring the legal and ethical dimensions of targeted killings.
The seminar, titled “Shoot to kill? Targeted killings in Constitutional and International Law”, will be presented by Prof Dominik Steiger of the Technical University of Dresden, who also serves as an Extraordinary Professor in the UWC Faculty of Law.
Venezuelans drug traffickers, Ali Khamenei, Usama bin Laden, a plane hijacked by terrorists heading towards a nuclear power plant. Might the State use lethal force? The discussion about so-called targeted killings cannot be answered by applying only constitutional law. International law, especially the prohibition of the use of force, human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, must also be considered. While these areas of law traditionally have been kept separate, we will look at their interaction in order to answer the question: under what circumstances may a state shoot to kill?
Date: Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Time: 13:00 (SAST)
Venue: Kader Asmal Moot Court (Hybrid)
Click here to reserve your seat
