Receiving States, Sending States and the Impact of Their Domestic Laws

Abstract

The present paper explores the exercise of jurisdiction in the context of multinational military operations from the perspective of States that send their forces abroad and States that receive them within their territory. Sending States and receiving States may both claim to be competent under international law to regulate the conduct of military contingents in certain matters, based on the territorial principle and the organic jurisdiction principle, respectively. This overlap of competence may lead sending States and receiving States to exercise their authority in relation to the same subject matter. A number of principles, legal regimes and instruments are available in international law to resolve the problems that this concurrent exercise of jurisdiction presents. The paper reviews three of these: the reserved domain of domestic jurisdiction, the law of State and functional immunity and status of forces agreements.