Martial Law: Warriors' Doctrine, Tactics, Strategy, and the Battle for Order

By Fouad Sabry

What is Martial Law

Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties may be suspended for as long as martial law continues. Most often, martial law is declared in times of war and/or emergencies such as civil unrest and natural disasters. Alternatively, martial law may be declared in instances of military Coup d'état.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Martial law

Chapter 2: State of emergency

Chapter 3: President of Bangladesh

Chapter 4: Provisional government

Chapter 5: Fourth Republic of Korea

Chapter 6: 1999 Pakistani Coup d'état

Chapter 7: 2006 state of emergency in the Philippines

Chapter 8: Constitutional history of Greece

Chapter 9: Martial law in Taiwan

Chapter 10: October Restoration

(II) Answering the public top questions about martial law.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Martial Law.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 18, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Martial law

In a state of martial law, military authority is replaced with a civilian government and civil legal processes are suspended.

Despite being proclaimed numerous times throughout history, martial law is still frequently referred to as being mainly illusive as a legal concept. The Common Law Doctrine of Necessity, or a variant of it, frequently serves as the legal justification for the imposition of martial law in nations when doing so is not expressly permitted.

The common law is one legal doctrine that is usually linked to martial law. Principle of Need.

Governments can employ martial law to impose their will on the populace, as observed in the many nations listed below.

Such incidents may occur after a coup d'état (Thailand in 2006 and 2014, in 2013, and Egypt); when faced by mass demonstrations (China), 1989 Tiananmen Square protests; to silence political dissent (martial law in Poland in 1981); or to contain insurrections, real or imagined.

Major natural disasters could result in the declaration of martial law; however, The majority of nations employ various legal systems, like is an emergency situation.

When there is no other civil administration and the people is unstable, martial rule has often been applied during battles and in circumstances of occupation. The recovery and reconstruction of the former Confederate States of America during the Reconstruction Era in the United States of America following the American Civil War, as well as German occupation of northern France between 1871 and 1873 following the Treaty of Frankfurt that ended the Franco-Prussian War are examples of this type of military rule.

Curfews, the suspension of civil law, civil rights, and habeas corpus, as well as the application or expansion of military law or military justice to civilians are frequently accompanied by the declaration of martial law. People who disobey martial law could face military tribunal (court-martial).

Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia, issued a martial law proclamation during the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020.

Between the middle of the 1820s and 1832, there was a bloody struggle in Tasmania between British colonists and Aboriginal Australians. Since the continent became a nation, martial rule has never been declared; but, with an increase in violence in the late 1820s, Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur declared it in November 1828, thus granting legal impunity for killing Aboriginal people.

Since the 8 December 1962 Brunei Revolt, which was put down by British soldiers from Singapore, Brunei has been governed under martial law. The current head of state, Minister of Defense, and Commander in Chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces is Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah.

The War Measures Act was a law passed by the Canadian Parliament that gave the government broad emergency powers but stopped short of declaring martial law, so that the courts continued to be the only source of justice. During World War I, World War II, and the October Crisis of 1970, the legislation was used three times. The Emergencies Act took the role of the War Measures Act in 1988.

During the Continental Army's invasion of Canada in the years 1775–1776 of the American Revolutionary War, martial law was declared and put into effect during the colonial era in the Province of Quebec. Additionally, it was used twice in the Province of Lower Canada during the uprisings of 1837–1838. Following the events of November 1837, Governor Gosford declared martial law in the Montreal district on December 5 without the support of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Up to April 27, 1838, it was in effect. On November 4, 1838, acting governor John Colborne issued a second proclamation of martial law, which was in effect in the Montreal district until August 24, 1839.

In China, the last year of the Qing dynasty was when the Beiyang administration imposed martial law. A 1908 draft constitution that was based on the Meiji Constitution of Japan had provisions for martial law. In March 1911, the Provisional Constitution, which gave the President the power to impose martial law in dire circumstances, was published by the Provisional Government of the Republic of China. The Nationalist Government published the Martial Law Declaration Act later in the 1920s, and it was revised in the 1940s. As a result of the Japanese military and colonial government's approaching retreat after World War II, Taiwan was once again under Chinese authority. Despite the guarantee of democracy in the Constitution of the Republic of China, martial law was first enacted in Taiwan Province in 1947 following the February 28 event, and then again in 1949 as the Chinese Civil War was simultaneously raging throughout the nation (the central government refused to implement the constitution on Taiwan until after 1949).

The perceived need to suppress Communist activities in Taiwan was used as justification for not lifting martial law until 38 years later, in 1987, just before the passing of then-President Chiang Ching-kuo. This was after the Nationalist-led central government of China lost control of the mainland to the Chinese Communist Party and fled to Taiwan in 1949. After Syria (1967–2011), Taiwan saw one of the longest periods of martial law in recent times.

Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, the Communist-run government of mainland China implemented martial law in Beijing.

Since 1967, there has almost always been a State of Emergency in Egypt. A state of emergency was established in 1981 after President Anwar el-Sadat was killed. With a few brief exceptions, Egypt has remained in a state of emergency ever since. Since they were put into effect, parliament has required to renew the emergency laws every three years. The statute was extended in 2003 and was set to expire at the end of May 2006; efforts to replace it with new anti-terrorism measures were in place at the time. However, the state of emergency was extended for an additional two years following the Dahab bombings in April of that year. The state of emergency was further extended in May 2010, albeit the administration promised to only apply it to anyone suspected of being involved in terrorism and drug trafficking.

A State of Emergency empowers the government to hold anyone it deems to be a threat to state security for up to 45 days without a court order and provides military courts the authority to trial civilians. The law prohibits gatherings in public for demonstrations. In an effort to appease the sizable demonstrators who wanted his resignation, Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt, made a pledge on February 10, 2011, that the relevant constitutional clause that supports the State of Emergency will be removed. When Omar Suleiman, the vice president, transferred all civilian authority from the presidential institution to the military institution on February 11, 2011, the president resigned and de facto declared martial law in the nation. It meant that the military system, which has the ability to transmit authority back and forth to any civil institution located on its territory, received the presidential executive, parliamentary legislative, and judicial functions directly.

In its third proclamation, the military stated that the State of Emergency would terminate as soon as order is restored in Egypt. In accordance with the constitution, the Egyptian parliament had the authority to impose martial law prior to then. When in martial law, the military obtained all powers of the state, including to dissolve the parliament and suspend the constitution as it did in its fifth proclamation. The military's numbered announcements serve as the exclusive source of law within Egyptian territory when the country is under martial law. These declarations might, for example, command the reinstatement of any civil laws. The de facto sole current constitution and legal framework for Egyptian territory are the military announcements (communiques). It implies that the Geneva Conventions apply to all state affairs.

The Preparedness Act (SDK 1552/2011; valmiuslaki in Finnish) is a piece of legislation that was passed in Finland in accordance with the constitutional process. The Act's goal is to grant the government enough power in wartime and other extraordinary situations. There is also the Defence Status Act, whose provisions take precedence over those of the Preparedness Act during a state of defence (war). The two statutes work together to create the Emergency Preparedness Act. The purpose of the current Emergency Preparedness Act and its predecessor, 1080/1991, was to replace the emergency provisions that had previously been dispersed across various distinct acts.

There is no procedure for declaring war, martial law, or a state of emergency in Iceland's constitution.

With the exception of Article 34, which grants Parliament the authority to recompense individuals for activities committed in areas where martial law was in effect and to legalize such actions, the Indian Constitution makes no explicit reference of martial law. However, the Constitution itself makes no reference to any delegations of authority to impose Martial Law.

In order to eradicate Acehnese rebels, the president ordered the Indonesian Army Chief to implement martial law for a period of six months on May 18, 2003, during a military operation in Aceh.

On September 7, 1978, in reaction to protests against what people believed to be government complicity in Mostafa Khomeini's assassination, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi nominated Chief of Army Staff General Gholam Ali Oveisi as the military governor of Tehran.

To keep the peace in Dublin's streets during the Easter Rising in 1916, Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, proclaimed martial law. With the approval of the British government, this was later geographically and in terms of length expanded to encompass the entire nation. During the Irish War of Independence, the British government declared martial law across much of Ireland. During the Irish Civil War, a sizable area of Ireland was also subject to de facto martial law.

Although capital penalty is illegal under any circumstances, including during a state of emergency, the present Irish Constitution permits martial law if the government declares a state of emergency.

From 1949 to 1966, significant parts of Israel with sizable Arab populations—primarily the Negev, Galilee, and Triangle—were under military administrative rule. Martial law applied to those who lived there. The Kafr Qasim massacre in 1956, when the Israel Border Police slaughtered 48 individuals as they were leaving work in the evening—19 men, 6 women, and 23 children aged 8 to 17—may be the most infamous instance of military violence during this time. All Arab villages close to the Green Line were put under curfew per an Israeli army order. But before the inhabitants of these communities, including those of Kafr Qasim, were informed, this order went into force.

Martial law was imposed over the Palestinian population as well as the Jordanian, Syrian, and Egyptian populations in these territories after the 1967 war, during which the Israeli army invaded the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights in Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The Oslo I Accords allowed for some Palestinian self-government under the Palestinian National Authority in 1993. Only a portion of Area C in the West Bank is formally under martial law. and was maintained throughout the duration of the conflict by the Cabinet and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Although Mauritius is renowned for its Westminster-style democracy, an unusual system that was instituted there in 1968