Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field

Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field

 

SECTION I

Martial Law – Military jurisdiction – Military necessity – Retaliation

Article 1. A place, district, or country occupied by an enemy stands, in
consequence of the occupation, under the Martial Law of the invading or
occupying army, whether any proclamation declaring Martial Law, or any
public warning to the inhabitants, has been issued or not. Martial Law is
the immediate and direct effect and consequence of occupation or conquest.

The presence of a hostile army proclaims its Martial Law.

Art. 2. Martial Law does not cease during the hostile occupation, except by
special proclamation, ordered by the commander in chief; or by special
mention in the treaty of peace concluding the war, when the occupation of a
place or territory continues beyond the conclusion of peace as one of the
conditions of the same.

Art. 3. Martial Law in a hostile country consists in the suspension, by the
occupying military authority, of the criminal and civil law, and of the
domestic administration and government in the occupied place or territory,
and in the substitution of military rule and force for the same, as well as
in the dictation of general laws, as far as military necessity requires
this suspension, substitution, or dictation.

The commander of the forces may proclaim that the administration of all
civil and penal law shall continue either wholly or in part, as in times of
peace, unless otherwise ordered by the military authority.

Art. 4. Martial Law is simply military authority exercised in accordance
with the laws and usages of war. Military oppression is not Martial Law: it
is the abuse of the power which that law confers. As Martial Law is
executed by military force, it is incumbent upon those who administer it to
be strictly guided by the principles of justice, honor, and humanity –
virtues adorning a soldier even more than other men, for the very reason
that he possesses the power of his arms against the unarmed.

Art. 5. Martial Law should be less stringent in places and countries fully
occupied and fairly conquered. Much greater severity may be exercised in
places or regions where actual hostilities exist, or are expected and must
be prepared for. Its most complete sway is allowed – even in the
commander’s own country – when face to face with the enemy, because of the
absolute necessities of the case, and of the paramount duty to defend the
country against invasion.

To save the country is paramount to all other considerations.

Art. 6. All civil and penal law shall continue to take its usual course in
the enemy’s places and territories under Martial Law, unless interrupted or
stopped by order of the occupying military power; but all the functions of
the hostile government – legislative executive, or administrative – whether
of a general, provincial, or local character, cease under Martial Law, or
continue only with the sanction, or, if deemed necessary, the participation
of the occupier or invader.

Art. 7. Martial Law extends to property, and to persons, whether they are
subjects of the enemy or aliens to that government.

Art. 8. Consuls, among American and European nations, are not diplomatic
agents. Nevertheless, their offices and persons will be subjected to
Martial Law in cases of urgent necessity only: their property and business
are not exempted. Any delinquency they commit against the established
military rule may be punished as in the case of any other inhabitant, and
such punishment furnishes no reasonable ground for international complaint.

Art. 9. The functions of Ambassadors, Ministers, or other diplomatic agents
accredited by neutral powers to the hostile government, cease, so far as
regards the displaced government; but the conquering or occupying power
usually recognizes them as temporarily accredited to itself.

Art. 10. Martial Law affects chiefly the police and collection of public
revenue and taxes, whether imposed by the expelled government or by the
invader, and refers mainly to the support and efficiency of the army, its
safety, and the safety of its operations.

Art. 11. The law of war does not only disclaim all cruelty and bad faith
concerning engagements concluded with the enemy during the war, but also
the breaking of stipulations solemnly contracted by the belligerents in
time of peace, and avowedly intended to remain in force in case of war
between the contracting powers.

It disclaims all extortions and other transactions for individual gain; all
acts of private Revenge , or connivance at such acts.

Offenses to the contrary shall be severely punished, and especially so if
committed by officers.

Art. 12. Whenever feasible, Martial Law is carried out in cases of
individual offenders by Military Courts; but sentences of death shall be
executed only with the approval of the chief executive, provided the
urgency of the case does not require a speedier execution, and then only
with the approval of the chief commander.

Art. 13. Military jurisdiction is of two kinds: First, that which is
conferred and defined by statute; second, that which is derived from the
Common law of war. Military offenses under the statute law must be tried in
the manner therein directed; but military offenses which do not come within
the statute must be tried and punished under the Common law of war. The
character of the courts which exercise these jurisdictions depends upon the
local laws of each particular country.

In the armies of the United States the first is exercised by
courts-martial, while cases which do not come within the “Rules and
Articles of War,”or the jurisdiction conferred by statute on
courts-martial, are tried by military commissions.

 

Conclusion

Notes

See Also

References and Further Reading

About the Author/s and Reviewer/s

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Common law, Conventions: Chronological Index, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 2, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 3, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 4, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 5, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 6, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 7, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field 8, International law: Culture protection, List of International Humanitarian Treaties and Documents, Revenge, Rules of Warfare, Arms Control conventions, country.


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