Chapter IV. Legal Reasoning and the Applicability of International Human Rights Standards During Military Occupation

Abstract

The relationship which is the focus of this chapter is that of international human rights standards which vertically regulate the relationship between a state and private individuals or groups, and international humanitarian law which horizontally regulates the relationship between groups or individuals acting on behalf of states. There are two kinds of conflicted relationship: the first is the horizontal interstate relationship between two sovereign entities?the rights of one and obligations of the other. Secondly, a concurrent legal dynamic concerns the relationship between the population of occupied territory and the state apparatus of foreign occupying power. The presence of a wide range of intersecting and potentially applicable legal regimes during military occupation results in a particularly crucial role for lex specialis in the analysis of legal rules and principles applicable to military occupation. The chapter overviews this process, addressing the applicability of human rights standards in the context of military occupation. Keywords: international human rights standards; international humanitarian law (IHL); interstate relationship; legal reasoning; lex specialis ; military occupation