Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T10:23:14.700Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Directive 2311.01 on the Law of War Program (U.S. Dept. Defense)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2022

Rachel E. VanLandingham*
Affiliation:
Rachel E. VanLandingham is a Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School, United States, and retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force.

Extract

The significance of Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 2311.01E, The Law of War Program (DODD 2311.01E), last updated in 2020, is not simply rhetorical. Born in 1974 in immediate reaction to the well-publicized atrocities committed by U.S. service members in Vietnam (such as at My Lai and Song Thang), the original directive represented the most tangible and highest-level expression of the U.S. executive branch's desire that its members comply with the laws and customs of war. Beyond important symbolism, the original regulation created a true law of war program in more than name only by establishing an interrelated set of measures focused on training, reporting, and investigating with designated offices and positions of responsibility—measures expressly crafted to ensure law of war adherence. DODD 2311.01E maintains and improves the original 1974 program's compliance architecture, and in doing so operationalizes, more than any other DOD or military initiative, the U.S. national commitment that its military should live by the law of war's precepts.

Type
International Legal Documents
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

DoD Directive 2310.01E, “DoD Detainee Program,” August 19, 2014, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Directive 3000.03E, “DoD Executive Agent for Non-Lethal Weapons (NLW), and NLW Policy,” April 25, 2013, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Directive 3000.09, “Autonomy in Weapons Systems,” November 12, 2012, as amended DoD Directive 3115.09, “DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical Questioning,” October 11, 2012, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Directive 5000.01, “The Defense Acquisition System,” May 12, 2003, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Directive 5122.05, “Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (ATSD(PA)),” August 7, 2017Google Scholar
DoD Directive 5148.13, “Intelligence Oversight,” April 26, 2017Google Scholar
DoD Instruction 1000.01, “Identification (ID) Cards Required by the Geneva Conventions,” April 16, 2012, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Instruction 3020.41, “Operational Contract Support (OCS),” December 20, 2011, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Instruction 5505.03, “Initiation of Investigations by Defense Criminal Investigative Organizations,” March 24, 2011, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Instruction 5525.11, “Criminal Jurisdiction Over Civilians Employed By or Accompanying the Armed Forces Outside the United States, Certain Service Members, and Former Service Members,” March 3, 2005Google Scholar
DoD Instruction 6055.07, “Mishap Notification, Investigation, Reporting, and Record Keeping,” June 6, 2011, as amendedGoogle Scholar
DoD Manual 8910.01, Volume 1, “DoD Information Collections Manual: Procedures for DoD Internal Information Collections,” June 30, 2014, as amendedGoogle Scholar
Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of August 12, 1949Google Scholar
Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949Google Scholar
Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949Google Scholar
Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949Google Scholar
Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, “DoD Law of War Manual,” June 2015, as amendedGoogle Scholar
United States Code, Title 10Google Scholar
United States Code, Title 18Google Scholar