Chapter 5. The administrative and judicial structures in occupied territory

Abstract

This chapter deals with the specific implication of the conservationist premises of the laws of occupation on administrative and judicial structures in occupied territories. It discusses the occupants authority to effectuate change in administrative institutions in occupied territories. The chapter reviews a detailed analysis of so-called occupation courts. The authority for belligerent occupation derives less from an international legal institution than from the sheer fact that they exert military power sufficient to control the territory. The occupying power is generally required to maintain local courts and must not alter the status of judges. There have been numerous examples of state practice effectuating the alterations in the administrative and judicial machineries on the basis of necessity exceptions. The introduction of a democratic political system is increasingly recognised as an indispensable requirement on the basis of the principle of self-determination of peoples.Keywords: administrative structures; belligerent occupation; democratic political system; judicial structures; occupation courts; occupied territory