Criminal Jurisdiction over Armed Forces Abroad

This book studies the principles and practice of extending a country's criminal law to offences committed abroad by their armed forces personnel.

Rain Liivoja (Author), Eyal Benvenisti (Foreword by)

9781107039506, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 September 2017

332 pages, 1 table
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

Rain Liivoja explores why, and to what extent, armed forces personnel who commit offences abroad are prosecuted under their own country's laws. After clarifying several conceptual uncertainties in the doctrine of jurisdiction and immunities, he applies the doctrine to the extraterritorial deployment of service personnel. Comparing the law and practice of different states, the author shows the sheer breadth of criminal jurisdiction that countries claim over their service personnel. He argues that such claims disclose a discrete category of jurisdiction, with its own scope and rationale, which can be justified as a matter of international law. By distinguishing service jurisdiction as a distinct category, the analysis explains some of the peculiarities of military criminal law and also provides a basis for extending national criminal law to private military contractors serving the state. This book is essential for scholars and practitioners in international and criminal law, especially in military contexts.

Foreword Eyal Benvenisti
1. Criminal jurisdiction under national law
2. Criminal jurisdiction under international law
3. Immunities from criminal jurisdiction under international law
4. Armed forces abroad
5. Status of armed forces abroad
6. Service jurisdiction under national law
7. Service jurisdiction under international law.

Subject Areas: International humanitarian law [LBBS], Public international law [LBB], Armed conflict [JPWS]