Use of lethal police force: International standards and their influences in Chile

Abstract

The article reviews international standards for the use of lethal police force, considering the provisions of the United Nations, the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. The analysis considers general aspects on the use of lethal police force, criteria for arrests and criteria for protests. Subsequently, the influence of these standards on the regulations applicable to the use of lethal police force is reviewed, as well as some jurisprudential pronouncements that refer to individual actions of police officers who have used lethal police force in arrests and protests, illustrative of the lines followed by the highest national courts on the matter. Finally, an assessment of the national situation is made, in comparison with the international standards analyzed.