The Status of the United States Forces in English Law

Abstract

It is proposed to deal in this article with the English law concerning the legal status of the United States forces present in the territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the present war. The history of, and the controversies regarding, the legal position of friendly armed forces on foreign territory in international law remain outside of the scope of the present survey, which is devoted to the municipal aspect of the matter. In order, however, to give a picture of the whole body of English law applicable to the American forces we shall include a few remarks on the development of the question in English municipal and British imperial law, and it will also be necessary to compare the provisions concerning the United States forces with those regulating the status of the other allied and associated forces at present stationed in the British Isles, as well as with the provisions regarding visiting Dominion troops. As will be seen later there has been a certain amount of interdependence between international and interimperial relations with regard to the legal problem with which we are concerned.