Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Selected table of cases
- List of abbreviations
- Table of engagements
- Introduction
- Part I The historical and social context of international territorial administration
- Introduction
- 1 The concept of internationalisation
- 2 The Mandate System of the League of Nations
- 3 The United Nations Trusteeship System
- 4 Post-war occupation
- 5 UN territorial administration and the tradition of peace-maintenance
- Conclusion: international territorial administration – an independent device with a certain normative heritage
- Part II The practice of international territorial administration: a retrospective
- Part III The foundations of international territorial administration
- Part IV A typology of legal problems arising within the context of international territorial administration
- Part V International territorial administration at the verge of the twenty-first century: achievements, challenges and lessons learned
- Bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW
4 - Post-war occupation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Selected table of cases
- List of abbreviations
- Table of engagements
- Introduction
- Part I The historical and social context of international territorial administration
- Introduction
- 1 The concept of internationalisation
- 2 The Mandate System of the League of Nations
- 3 The United Nations Trusteeship System
- 4 Post-war occupation
- 5 UN territorial administration and the tradition of peace-maintenance
- Conclusion: international territorial administration – an independent device with a certain normative heritage
- Part II The practice of international territorial administration: a retrospective
- Part III The foundations of international territorial administration
- Part IV A typology of legal problems arising within the context of international territorial administration
- Part V International territorial administration at the verge of the twenty-first century: achievements, challenges and lessons learned
- Bibliography
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW
Summary
The third legal framework that has given rise to experiments in territorial administration is the law of occupation. The law of occupation is not specifically a framework for the administration of territory. Occupation is primarily a conflict-centred device that is designed to restore order and civil life and to balance certain interests after the cessation of hostilities. The authority of the occupant is limited by specific constraints emanating from the inviolability of the rights of the territorial sovereign and the limited regulatory powers of the occupant over the occupied territory. Occupation has therefore only in exceptional circumstances served as a long-term instrument of territorial administration, namely either in conjunction with an additional peace settlement or in special historical circumstances (Germany, Japan, Palestine).
Occupation and territorial administration - two distinct concepts
The framework of occupation is based on two assumptions, which compromise its capacity to serve as a multilateral governing framework for the administration of territory. The rules of the law of occupation address a very particular conflict of interest, namely the relationship between the occupant, the local population and the ousted government. Secondly, they offer limited leeway for the occupant to shape the internal structure of the territory under administration.
The rationale of the laws of occupation
The structure of the law of occupation is not geared towards objective and long-term peacemaking. It is centred on the organisation of the relationship between the former parties to the conflict and the population of the occupied territory. This is reflected in the history of the laws of occupation.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Law and Practice of International Territorial AdministrationVersailles to Iraq and Beyond, pp. 115 - 146Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008