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GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT
achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be
made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.
10. In the circumstances provided for under principle 9, law enforcement officials
shall identify themselves as such and give a clear warning of their intent to use
firearms, with sufficient time for the warning to be observed, unless to do so would
unduly place the law enforcement officials at risk or would create a risk of death or
serious harm to other persons, or would be clearly inappropriate or pointless in the
circumstances of the incident.
11. Rules and regulations on the use of firearms by law enforcement officials
should include guidelines that:
(a) Specify the circumstances under which law enforcement officials are authorized
to carry firearms and prescribe the types of firearms and ammunition permitted;
(b) Ensure that firearms are used only in appropriate circumstances and in a manner
likely to decrease the risk of unnecessary harm;
(c) Prohibit the use of those firearms and ammunition that cause unwarranted injury
or present an unwarranted risk;
(d) Regulate the control, storage and issuing of firearms, including procedures for
ensuring that law enforcement officials are accountable for the firearms and
ammunition issued to them;
(e) Provide for warnings to be given, if appropriate, when firearms are to be
discharged;
(f) Provide for a system of reporting whenever law enforcement officials use
firearms in the performance of their duty.
...
18. Governments and law enforcement agencies shall ensure that all law
enforcement officials are selected by proper screening procedures, have appropriate
moral, psychological and physical qualities for the effective exercise of their functions
and receive continuous and thorough professional training. Their continued fitness to
perform these functions should be subject to periodic review.
19. Governments and law enforcement agencies shall ensure that all law
enforcement officials are provided with training and are tested in accordance with
appropriate proficiency standards in the use of force. Those law enforcement officials
who are required to carry firearms should be authorized to do so only upon
completion of special training in their use.
20. In the training of law enforcement officials, Governments and law enforcement
agencies shall give special attention to issues of police ethics and human rights,
especially in the investigative process, to alternatives to the use of force and firearms,
including the peaceful settlement of conflicts, the understanding of crowd behaviour,
and the methods of persuasion, negotiation and mediation, as well as to technical
means, with a view to limiting the use of force and firearms. Law enforcement