"This Manual addresses a practice area of great importance to hundreds of thousands of individuals who have served in the United States armed forces, but are often denied the title of "veteran" and excluded from the benefits and services usually offered to veterans"--
Based on best-practice rules of global importance, this handbook offers authoritative commentary and analysis of the international law of military operations, encompassing self-defence, peace operations, and other uses of force.
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is in a state of some turbulence, as a result of, among other things, non-international armed conflicts, terrorist threats and the rise of new technologies. This incisive book observes that while states appear to be reluctant to act as agents of change, informal methods of law-making are flourishing. Illustrating that not only courts, but various non-state actors, push for legal developments, this timely work offers an insight into the causes of this somewhat ambivalent state of IHL by focusing attention on both the legitimacy of law-making processes and the actors involved.
"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.
This new text comprehensively covers the modern military justice system under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The materials included come from every service within the Armed Forces, and show how the military justice system addresses all criminal offenses, ranging from minor infractions to serious offenses such as the misconduct of soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison. The text covers the jurisdiction of courts-martial; sources of military law; military offenses and defenses; pre-trial, trial, and appellate procedures; the role of judge advocates; non-judicial punishment and other alternatives to courts-martial; special forums such as boards of inquiry and military commissions for trying enemy belligerents; the relationship of courts-martial to state and federal courts; and much more. All chapters include policy questions about currently controversial issues. The text is appropriate for all students, whether or not they have had prior military experience.