ppropriate legal and administrative framework defining the limited circumstances in which law enforcement officials may use force and firearms, in the light of the relevant international standards (see Makaratzis v. Greece [GC], No. 50385/99, §§ 57 - 59, ECHR 2004-XI, and Nachova and Others v. Bulgaria [GC], Nos. 43577/98 and 43579/98, § 96, ECHR 2005-VII). Furthermore, the national law regulating policing operations must secure a system of adequate and effective safeguards against arbitrariness and abuse of force and even against avoidable accident (see Makaratzis, cited above, § 58).
78. In the present case, it has been acknowledged by the Government that Ramzan Suleymanov, Petimat Aydamirova, Ibragim Suleymanov and Aslanbek Aydamirov were killed by State agents as a result of the intentional use of lethal force against them. The State's responsibility is therefore engaged, and it is for the State to account for the deaths of the applicant's relatives. It is notably for the State to demonstrate that the force used against them by the federal servicemen could be said to have been absolutely necessary and therefore strictly proportionate to the achievement of one of the aims set out in paragraph 2 of Article 2.
79. The Court notes that it is faced with conflicting accounts of the incident. The Government claimed that the applicant's relatives had been driving in the dark during curfew hours and had disobeyed orders to stop. The applicant submitted that her relatives had been driving in daylight and that the military had been able to see that the lorry's passengers had been civilians.
80. The Court does not consider it necessary to resolve the controversies in the parties' submissions on the facts, as even assuming that the Government's version as presented by them is accurate, the Court is not convinced that the Government have properly accounted for the use of lethal force against the applicant's relatives.
81. In this connection, the Court notes firstly that it is aware of the difficult situation in the Chechen Republic at the material time, which called for exceptional measures on the part of the State to suppress the illegal armed insurgency (see Isayeva and Others v. Russia, Nos. 57947/00, 57948/00 and 57949/00, § 178, 24 February 2005, or Khatsiyeva and Others, cited above, § 134). It also bears in mind the fact that an armed conflict, such as that in Chechnya, may entail developments to which State agents are called upon to react without prior preparation. Bearing in mind the difficulties in policing modern societies, the unpredictability of human conduct and the operational choices which must be made in terms of priorities and resources, the obligation to protect the right to life must be interpreted in a way which does not impose an impossible or disproportionate burden on the authorities (see, mutatis mutandis, Makaratzis, cited above, § 69, and Mahmut Kaya v. Turkey, No. 22535/93, § 86, ECHR 2000-III).
82. Turning to the present case, the Court notes, however, that the Government failed to demonstrate that the circumstances of the incident of 16 - 19 May 2000 rendered the use of lethal force against the applicant's relatives inevitable. Even assuming that the applicant's relatives had indeed disobeyed the order to stop the lorry and had tried to drive away from the military, as alleged by the Government, the following crucial elements remain unclear.
83. First of all, the Court notes as a matter of grave concern that, whilst claiming that the federal servicemen involved in the incident of 16 - 19 May 2000 had acted in full compliance with national legislation and regulations for securing the safety of the civilian population, as well as those relating to the use of lethal force, the respondent Government failed to provide the Court with any such legal act or regulations. This prevented the Court from assessing wh
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