Violation of the Airspace of Countries by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones) from the Perspective of International Law

Objective: to illustrate the challenges to international law and the shortcomings of current regulation caused by the rapid development of drone technology, by the example of using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in airspace. Methods: the study is based primarily on a set of methods for interpreting the provisions of international law, which allow analyzing the provisions in the field of using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Results: based on international air law and humanitarian law, the article examines the issues of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) using airspace. The main sources of law in this area are analyzed, including the provisions of international air law, especially the Paris, Madrid, Havana and Chicago Conventions. An attempt is made to answer the questions arising from the development of unmanned technologies as to which rules of international law apply to their use and whether existing international law is capable of responding effectively to them. The article shows the current understanding of the legal status of airspace over the territory of a state. The author puts forward the question whether the sphere of unmanned aerial vehicles, automatic and autonomous weapons, which combines scientific and military achievements with new technologies, is exceptional. In this regard, the problem of using unmanned aerial vehicles as a universal weapon in international conflicts is touched upon. A conclusion is made that the use of intelligent, guided and robotic weapons capable of automatic decision-making, such as drones, requires the revision of existing conventions or the establishment of new legal standards for these weapons. It is proposed to consider such drones as military aircraft of a special type. Scientific novelty: international legal responsibility of states for the military use of drones has not received an unambiguous assessment in the doctrine. However, much in this issue depends on the legal interpretation of the most important international legal categories. Further development of this issue is directly related to the issues of international responsibility and the concept of state sovereignty over airspace. Practical significance: the development of unmanned aviation at the present stage demonstrates the imperfection of the existing legal framework, which is designed to regulate these relations. With regard to the study of the global trend in the current international law, the identification of the shortcomings in the provisions of the latter is important primarily for their further modernization, taking into account modern scientific achievements and the development of the concept of a state sovereignty over its airspace.