The Department of Defense Manual: Occupation Chapter

Forthcoming in Michael A. Newton (ed), The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual: Commentary and Critique (Cambridge University Press)

Hebrew University of Jerusalem International Law Forum Working Series 07-17

Hebrew University of Jerusalem Legal Research Paper No. 17-33

33 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2017 Last revised: 25 Aug 2017

See all articles by Yael Ronen

Yael Ronen

Academic Center for Science and Law, Hod Hasharon; Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law, Minerva Center for Human Rights

Date Written: August 1, 2017

Abstract

This chapter examines the occupation chapter in the US Department of Defence’s 2015 Law of War Manual (as updated in June 2016). In particular, it considers the implications of the Manual for transformative measures, in light of the few statements pertaining directly to such measures, and of the general tenor of the Manual. The chapter considers these issues by reference to both doctrine and practice cited by the Manual, also evaluating their persuasive power. First, it notes that the Manual’s reading of the occupying power’s authority is ambiguous. On the one hand its explicit provisions do not stray far from the traditional iterations of the conservationist principle; on the other hand, the Manual utilizes various techniques to suggest that the discretion of the occupying power may be very wide. Second, this chapter demonstrates that the Manual adopts a very narrow view of what constitutes occupation, leaving great leeway for foreign forces acting in non-sovereign territory. This chapter concludes that considered in totality, the Manual does not explicitly endorse the transformative project, but implicitly goes a significant way towards accommodating it, at the expense of the conservationist principle underlying the law of occupation.

Keywords: Occupation, Transformative Measures, Hostility, Consent, Liberation, Friendly Territory

Suggested Citation

Ronen, Yael, The Department of Defense Manual: Occupation Chapter (August 1, 2017). Forthcoming in Michael A. Newton (ed), The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual: Commentary and Critique (Cambridge University Press), Hebrew University of Jerusalem International Law Forum Working Series 07-17, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Legal Research Paper No. 17-33 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3011827 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3011827

Yael Ronen (Contact Author)

Academic Center for Science and Law, Hod Hasharon ( email )

5 Margoa St.
Hod Hasharon, 45101
Israel

HOME PAGE: http://en.mishpat.ac.il/yael_ronen/

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law, Minerva Center for Human Rights ( email )

Mount Scopus
Jerusalem, 9190501
Israel

HOME PAGE: http://https://en.law.huji.ac.il/people/yael-ronen

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