Rule of Law Handbook: A Practitioner’s Guide for Judge Advocates
Publisher
Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School
Date
2007
The Center for Law and Military Operations (CLAMO) specializes in the collection of after action reports (AARs) from Judge Advocates and paralegals recently returned from deployments in either Operation Iraq Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). There are two constantly re-occurring themes that surface in these AARs. The first is the command naturally turns to the legal expert within the task force to plan, execute, coordinate, and evaluate rule of law efforts. The second is that no comprehensive resource exists to assist practitioners in fulfilling this task.
It is highly likely the GWOT will require the US military to engage in operations that include rule of law operations as an essential part of the overall mission. The term was mentioned nine times in the 2002 National Security Strategy, and sixteen times in the 2006 National Security Strategy (NSS). As the 2002 NSS explains:
America must stand firmly for the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the absolute power of the state; free speech; freedom of worship; equal justice; respect for women; religious and ethnic tolerance; and respect for private property.
The need for such a practitioner's guide for rule of law is therefore irrefutable. A much more challenging and debatable question, however, is what such a guide should contain and what should be the primary focus. Perhaps an even more fundamental and important question is exactly what is meant by the term "rule of law"? There are divergent, and often conflicting, views among academics, various USG agencies, US allies and even within the Department of Defense (DOD), on what is meant by the "rule of law". As in the case of any emerging area of legal practice or military specialty, doctrine is non-existent, official guidance is incomplete, and educational opportunities are limited.
While acknowledging the above challenges, the Judge Advocate General's Corps leadership still recognizes the inevitability that Judge Advocates on the ground under extraordinarily difficult conditions will be called upon to execute the rule of law mission. The JAG Corps owes these lawyers at the tip of the spear practical guidance in the form of a comprehensive resource that discusses the other rule of law players and the challenges that exist in coordination with them, a broad discussion of the fundamental principles that most experts agree describe the all-encompassing term of rule of law, some guidance on how to plan for and execute rule of law operations, and a discussion of some prior lessons learned. That then is the genesis, purpose, and rational for this, The Rule of Law Handbook: A Practitioner's Guide for Judge Advocates.
Citation
Thomas B. Nachbar, Charles R. Oleszycki, & Vasilios Tasikas, eds., Rule of Law Handbook: A Practitioner’s Guide for Judge Advocates, Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (2007 ed. 2007).