martial law

1. the law temporarily imposed upon an area by state or national military forces when civil authority has broken down or during wartime military operations.

2. the law imposed upon a defeated country or occupied territory by the military forces of the occupying power.

[1525-35]

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Temporary rule of a designated area by military authorities in time of emergency when the civil authorities are deemed unable to function.

Under martial law, civil rights are usually suspended, and the activities of civil courts are restricted or supplanted entirely by military tribunals. Such "acts done by necessity" are limited only by international law and the conventions of civilized warfare. Though temporary in theory, a state of martial law may in fact continue indefinitely. See also human rights; war crimes.

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      temporary rule by military authorities of a designated area in time of emergency when the civil authorities are deemed unable to function. The legal effects of a declaration of martial law differ in various jurisdictions, but they generally involve a suspension of normal civil rights and the extension to the civilian population of summary military justice or of military law. Although temporary in theory, a state of martial law may in fact continue indefinitely.

      In the English legal system, the term is of dubious significance; in the words of the English jurist Sir Frederick Pollock (Pollock, Sir Frederick, 3rd Baronet), “so-called ‘martial law,' as distinct from military law, is an unlucky name for the justification by the common law of acts done by necessity for the defence of the Commonwealth when there is war within the realm.”

      Such “acts done by necessity” are limited only by international law and the conventions of civilized warfare. Further, the regular civil courts do not review the decisions of tribunals set up by the military authorities, and very little authority exists on the question of remedies against abuse of powers by the military. In Great Britain and many other jurisdictions, such questions are of little significance in view of the modern practice of taking emergency or special powers by statute.

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