What happems when martial law is declared?

Finnbar01

When martial law is declared in the country, what exactly does it entail?

I think your movements are restricted, you're not allowed outside at certain times, you can be jailed without a trial etc....

Could anyone give a more detailed summary?

Cheers.

ivabiggon

feckin weirdo?:eek:

Sierra Oscar

It totally depends on the country and circumstances surrounding the enactment of martial law. Martial law is only a system of rules imposed when the military take over the running of justice in a country, usually in the absence of a civil government administration during wars and occupations.

Trial by court martial, curfews and the abandoning of habeas corpus are all often part of martial law . . . but it always depends on the circumstances surrounding the enforcement of martial law that decides the "rules".

With the suspension of habeas corpus those in charge can effectively do whatever they like.

If you think the country will descend into martial law due to cutbacks and protests then please bear in mind that even during the Irish war of independence martial law was introduced towards the end of the war and it was only in a few counties

This thread is probably better suited to the military forum

Finnbar01

Deleted User wrote: »

If you think the country will descend into martial law due to cutbacks and protests then please bear in mind that even during the Irish war of independence martial law was introduced towards the end of the war and it was only in a few counties

This thread is probably better suited to the military forum

Maybe martial law was too strong a term. I should have used state of emergency.

Thanks.

meathstevie

In an EU context it means that the executive power, i.e. the government or the armed forces can operate more or less from a set of ad hoc rules that can be amended as situations develop in society.

For example if Ireland would be hit be a massive earthquake and chaos and plundering starts to break out in Cork city seriously aggrevating an already critical situation the Dep. of Defence in conjunction with the Dep. of Justice and the Taoiseach's office could put Cork city under martial law, send the army on the streets to deal with public order, aid distribution,looters and gangs, etc etc. This could mean curfews, internment without trial, food rationing, etc etc.

In the context of the EU all absolute human rights - the right to life and the absolute prohibition on torture and inhumane and degrading treatment for example - must at all times be upheld by the member states. This doesn't mean that the state isn't allowed to use lethal force in extreme circumstances. It means that the state can not use lethal force in a random way. It still has to justify it's use and that can only be done in the context of the application of lethal force being used to prevent worse, i.e. for saving the life of innocent people.

Take the example of the earthquake and Cork again. A number of people have taken shelter in a school building with a certain amount of food and water. A gang of looters that has already killed before is about to attack the building and the people. Fortunatly the army gets wind of it and deploys 2 APC's. The looters are told by PA announcement they have to disperse. They don't and try to attack the school. The officer commanding the 2 crews orders a machinegunner to open fire on the gang. He does so and fires a burst from a GPMG and kills 4 and wounds another 7. The gang disperses and the soldiers go in and try to give first aid to the wounded looters. In this case the soldiers would have acted perfectly within the law as they had very good reasons to open fire and after having done that they done all they could to save the lives of the wounded looters. They complied with their obligation to uphold the right to life and their use of lethal force would have been justified based on the gangs established pattern of behaviour.

dennisc24

Why Cork?? :pac:

stop

IIRC in the UK during a state of emergency parts of the Human Rights act (or maybe ECHR or summit) are rescinded or "opted out of"

DubMedic

Why did you post this in the Emergency Services forum?.

.

Shield

DubMedic wrote: »

Why did you post this in the Emergency Services forum?.

Agreed. There is a Military forum on boards.ie and there are plenty of people over there would be in a better position to answer the OP's question.

Thread closed.