Book Description

The United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Handbook for Military Support to Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform provides fundamental guidance, planning considerations, techniques, procedures, and other information for rule of law (ROL) issues that the joint force commander (JFC) and his staff may encounter in joint operation/campaign planning and in executing military operations such as theater security cooperation, foreign humanitarian assistance, stability operations, and peace operations. This handbook includes, within its definition of ROL, activities ranging across the functional spectrum of policing, management and oversight, and prisons; explains the interrelationship between ROL, governance, and security; and outlines the role of security sector reform (SSR) in building partner capacity to strengthen stability and ROL. Finally, this handbook provides a template to analyze the rule of law foundation essential to successful stability operations. This handbook is primarily for commanders and planners, rather than for lawyers. It is a practical guide that provides templates, tools, best practices, and lessons learned for planning and execution at the theater-of-operations level and below. Its primary purpose is to aid US military commanders and planners to more fully understand their roles and tasks in establishing ROL in fragile states during stability operations, in failed states, or in occupied territory in the immediate post-conflict period. Planning and executing ROL efforts to support military missions and giving legal advice to the commander on those missions are two different functions. While legal professionals are critical participants in ROL activities to support joint operations, planning for operations which include tasks to restore or strengthen ROL is a commander and operational planner responsibility. For purposes of operational awareness and understanding, this handbook addresses many of the linkages between ROL and the legal issues that impact ROL considerations for planning and operations. This handbook supports operational planning that integrates the elements of operational law and other legal issues covered authoritatively in doctrine and discussed in other non-doctrinal publications. This handbook does not answer every question regarding ROL or SSR that may arise in military operations. Strengthening ROL can mean different things to different stakeholders, and the requirements vary depending on the specific operation and the political, geographic, and cultural context in which an operation takes place. This handbook provides JFCs and their staffs with ways to conduct mission analysis, assessments, and interagency coordination that will lead to more comprehensive approaches to build sustainable host nation capacity. ROL and SSR are not exclusively or even primarily military responsibilities; in most cases, these tasks require whole-of government engagement by multiple US Government (USG) agencies, as well as intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and other international stakeholders. This handbook complements other ROL and SSR guidance, including the relevant joint and Service military doctrinal publications, systems governing interagency processes, and civilian guides published by the Department of State (DOS), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and other USG agencies. Additionally, this handbook incorporates the interagency-accepted principles of SSR contained in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Handbook on Security System Reform.