This chapter discusses the three requirements that must be met to ensure that that the resort by States to the method of targeted killing remains subject to the rule of law. First, it must be ascertained that international law provides clear and binding normative standards allowing the objective determination of the lawfulness of concrete targeted killings (normative requirement). Second, the rule of law requires that the observance of such normative standards be effectively ensured in practice (procedural requirement). Third, in order for the applicable normative standards to be perceived as legitimate, it must be ensured that they accurately reflect the values prevailing in the societies which they are designed to govern (moral basis).
Keywords: normative requirement, procedural requirement, moral basis, state-sponsored targeted killing, rule of law