SEGURANÇA AÉREA E ABATE DE AVIÕES: ASPECTOS JURÍDICO-FUNDAMENTAIS

In view of the concerns about the use of airplanes in criminal activities, different countries have legally authorized the use of military force against suspicious aircraft. This authorization, however, leads to a conflict among principles, namely, the fundamental rights to life and human dignity of the passengers on board. This paper seeks to analyze the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany regarding the authorization to shoot down airplanes (BVerfGE 115, 118), exposing its reasoning and explaining it by the theory of balancing. The German experience serves as a point of reference to the analysis of Brazilian legislation on that subject, with the necessary inquiries about its constitutionality.