Military Lawyers Research Articles

“My Coping Doesn’t Really Matter:” How Military Lawyers Navigate Vicarious Trauma Through Emotional Labor and Emotion Work

Rampant sexual assault within the United States military contributes to an environment where military lawyers are exposed to vicarious trauma while handling sexual violence cases. Through in-depth interviews, we argue that military lawyers, trained to suppress emotions during military training, often negate their own trauma. Further, prosecutors are encouraged to take victim-centric approaches, that require emotional labor and minimizing their own emotional expressions. Therefore, they professionalize, minimize, and abstract the impact of vicarious trauma on their lives. Findings underscore how societal and professional expectations constrain the emotional expressions of military lawyers, highlighting the need to address mental well-being in the military.

Value-Based Attitude Towards International Humanitarian Law as Part of Personality Development of Military Students

A value system is a complex of value orientations and meanings that have their roots in the outside world. For military students, international humanitarian law is an important part of personal value system. These norms shape the environment for quasi-professional and academic activities of future military lawyers and officers. International humanitarian legal norms regulate certain social relations, thus entering the sphere of subjective activity and acquiring positive significance. As a result, they become part of an officer’s personality. International legal acts are a quintessence of humanistic principles, goals, and ideas. In this respect, they are an objective source of universal human values and meanings. Hence, they characterize an officer as an intellectual. If introduced into military education curriculum, international humanitarian law could facilitate the development of personal values in future officers and military lawyers. To verify this hypothesis, the authors applied standard research methods to legal documents, as well as conducted a psychological and pedagogical experiment. They identified, systematized, and classified the values and meanings concentrated in the international legal acts of humanitarian law. The military students that studied the international humanitarian law respected traditions and valued security; they were more independent and achievement-oriented, as well as demonstrated a much higher level of communicative and organizational skills than the control group. Therefore, international humanitarian law proved to have a great potential for developing personality values in future officers as part of military education.

The Author’s Interactive Methods for the Military Lawyers: “Digital Case Study” Video Lessons, “Digital Storytelling and Startup Lessons”, “The New Creative Matrix Workshop” and Procedural Lessons With “Legal Discussions”

The following research work focuses on the Author’s Innovative methods for the military lawyers “Digital Case Study” Video Lessons, “Digital Storytelling and Startup Lesson” , “The New Creative Matrix Workshop” and procedural lessons with legal discussion and a new concept in the teaching English “Legal Discussion” as process of developing oral speech competence of English for the military lawyers. It is aimed to analyze the existing obstacles and barriers, which are preventing the learners from foreign oral communication, and to find the appropriate solutions of these problems. There has been an attempt to create more suitable teaching strategies for the higher military educational institutions. We propose renewed and a complex set of teaching strategies involving special interactive activities and using innovative technologies in EFL classes.

The potential of the monograph “Military Law” in the training of the future military lawyer and the development of his personality

In 2021 and 2022, under the general editorship of A.N. Savenkov and A.V. Kudashkin, three volumes of the fundamental monograph “Military Law” were published. The list of questions studied in the monograph is very diverse and extremely voluminous. For the first time in science, scientific ideas about Military Law as a science and a form of legal practice are theoretically conceptualized, and the hypotheses and provisions put forward by the team of authors are successfully and clearly proven. It is also worth mentioning that the team of authors consists of recognized experts in the field of Military Law, young scientists and experienced practitioners. In accordance with the classical principles of systematic and deductive research, the first volume of the monograph examines the history and theory of Military Law, the second volume reveals the current state of Military Law and analyzes its institutions, the third volume of the monograph is devoted to the knowledge of the main problems of Military Law and promising areas of military legal research. In addition to new research horizons opened up in the development of the science of Military Law, the developed monograph as a comprehensive scientific work, which effectively summarizes the theoretical provisions of this branch of science, opens up wide opportunities for its study in the training of future lawyers. Since the federal state educational standards of higher education for future lawyers provide for Military Law specialization, the monograph under consideration is of direct practical importance for the professional training and personality development of a future lawyer. The article considers the potential of the monograph “Military Law”, its psychological and pedagogical significance in the development of the personality of a future military lawyer. The structure and features of this potential, as well as the functions of Military Law in the formation of the legal professionalism of the individual, are revealed. Practical recommendations are offered for the introduction of the monograph “Military Law” into the educational activities of educational institutions of higher education in various fields. The possibility of using the materials of the monograph in the educational process as educational and methodological and modular materials is considered.

Legal regulation of inheritance relations under martial law

The article is devoted to the problems of legal regulation of inheritance relations under martial law. It has been analyzed the scientific works whose authors studied the peculiarities of legal regulation of inheritance relations under martial law. It is indicated that legal regulation of inheritance relations under martial law requires consideration of the following issues: 1) temporary restriction of constitutional rights and freedoms of human beings and citizens and rights and legitimate interests of legal entities due to the threat of restriction, with indication of the duration of such restrictions; 2) assistance in the exercise of civil rights and fulfillment of civil obligations by participants to such relations.
 It has been examined the restrictions on the rights and freedoms of participants to inheritance relations precisely because of their temporal component in the following areas: determining the place of time values in the relevant mechanism of legal regulation using the example of the period of inheritance acceptance; establishing the hierarchy of regulations which introduce such restrictions; and novelizing the relevant regulatory provisions.
 It has been suggested that the legal regulation of inheritance relations in this part should be harmonized between the Civil Code of Ukraine and the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On some Issues of Notaries under Martial Law” No. 164 dated February 28, 2022. It has been pointed out that it is appropriate to use the concept of “additional” term in the above-mentioned regulatory act as opposed to “extended” or “renewed” term.
 With a view to improving the organizational and legal support of the procedure for certifying the wills of servicemen, it is proposed to: develop a departmental regulatory document containing detailed instructions for the actions of military unit commanders regarding the procedure for certifying the wills of servicemen and other persons; prepare methodological recommendations containing methodological instructions to military unit commanders on their behaviour within the framework of the above procedure; as part of the training and retraining of the command staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other military formations and military lawyers, to include in the relevant educational curricula a block of training issues on the procedure for certifying wills by this category of officials.

“She Clearly Thought That Something Bad Had Happened to Her”: How Military Lawyers Construct Narratives of Victim Legitimacy and Perceived Harm in Sexual Assault Cases

It has been well established that survivors of sexual assault are revictimized as they navigate the civilian criminal justice system. Significantly less is known, however, about how sexual violence is navigated within the military justice system. In this study, we use qualitative interviews with military lawyers about sexual assault cases to explore their constructions of victim legitimacy. Lawyers create a distinction between perceived and actual harm done to a victim and perpetuate the notion that victims falsely accuse men of sexual violence. Through these discursive strategies, lawyers suggest that the issue of military sexual violence is inflated. Finally, lawyers blame the institutional structure of the military for teaching victimization to young women. This helps them explain why victims who they do not perceive as legitimate report sexual violence. These findings emphasize the need for further inquiry into how those working in the military justice system perceive and interact with victims.

ҲАРБИЙ СУД: КЕЧА ВА БУГУН

The article analyzes the historical stages in the development of military courts as an integral part of ensuring the combat readiness of military units in peacetime and wartime, as well as the lack of literature on the legal basis for the consideration of cases involving military personnel by military courts, the activities of the Armed Forces and other military structures created in accordance with the legislation, countries in the field of administration of justice, strengthening the rule of law, as well as strengthening organizational and procedural ties between military courts and courts of general jurisdiction, international and national legislative protection of the rights and legitimate interests of military courts as an integral part of the judicial system of general jurisdiction and the implementation of legislative practice at the level of modern requirements improving the foundations and meeting the needs of military courts in qualified personnel. In addition, this article discusses the issues of the organizational and staff structure of military courts, the legal status of military courts, the introduction of a system of training and advanced training of military judges and military lawyers.

Подготовка юристов для дальневосточных небольшевистских органов военной юстиции

The subject of the article is the professional training of military lawyers in Russia. The authors examine and compare in detail the process of the formation of military legal education in the Russian Far East during the Civil War and the existence of the Far Eastern Republic. The choice of the chronological framework is due to the transformation of special legal education in the military justice authorities and is limited to the entry of the territory of the Russian Far East into the RSFSR, with the restructuring of all state bodies, including the structure of military justice. The object of the research is the training of specialists for military justice bodies in the period from 1917 to 1922. The study uses a regional approach, as well as the concept of historical experience through the prism of which conclusions are drawn about the historical features of legal education in the Far Eastern region. Attention is drawn to the fact that during the period of social transformations in the region, it was possible to preserve, albeit in a modified form, the system of special legal training for employees of military justice bodies. A comprehensive study of the process of training military lawyers allows us to highlight not only the positive aspects, but also to assess the scale of the negative consequences. The authors introduced into the scientific circulation the materials of regional archives, revealing the process of forming a system of transferring legal knowledge to military investigators, prosecutors and judges.

Some aspects of using infographics to improve the effectiveness of online testing in tactical disciplines

Considered the possibilities of test control with the use of infographics are considered, which allow: to take into account specific features of the discipline; solve the problem of improving the perception, understanding and memorization of information; compactly provide large amounts of information; to strengthen the motivation to study the discipline; intensify the learning process; to realize the creative potential of cadets (students) and teachers through educational material.
 The analysis results and generalization are presented of the experience of conducting online testing of the level of formation of information and graphic competencies of cadets (students) are given. The advantages and disadvantages of closed-loop testing are analyzed. Technological and methodical recommendations on development and application of online tests with tasks in the graphic form are formulated.
 There is a positive impact of online testing using elements of infographics not only on the quality of control of knowledge, skills and abilities, but also on the formation of professional culture of future military lawyers in the process of training in the specialty.
 The ways of improving the effectiveness of online tests in tactical disciplines are proposed: including tasks in graphical form in tests; the use of adaptive tests; exclusion of borrowing schemes (illustrations) to tasks from educational literature; orientation of tasks to the practical component of the acquired knowledge; use for online control, in addition to closed tests, practical tasks in an open form, etc.

Violations of the laws or customs of war under military law: comparative analysis of international and internal legislation of Ukraine

This paper addresses the question of the criminalization of war crimes, which are compared at the international and internal legislative level under military law. Considering current threats to the international legal order and security system, justice and defence sector actors, military lawyers and research fellows in military law are faced with the problems of the concept of responsibility for the most serious crimes in the world. The adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998 raises the question of the internal legislation validity. The states Parties to International Criminal Court should revise the established conceptual approaches of responsibility for war crimes. The comparative analysis was made of the core and international military law.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ДОСВІДУ ПРАКТИЧНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ У МАЙБУТНІХ ВІЙСЬКОВИХ ЮРИСТІВ НА ЗАСАДАХ КОМПЕТЕНТНІСНОГО ПІДХОДУ

Стаття присвячена проблемі формування професійної компетентності у майбутніх юристів військових підрозділів. У статті конкретизовано сутність феномену «професійна компетентність майбутніх військових юристів» і визначено його як цілісне, складне особистісне утворення, інтегративну якість особистості, яка поєднує володіння майбутнім фахівцем системою знань, умінь та навичок військово-юридичного спрямування, сформованість професійно важливих якостей особистості юриста, що забезпечують ефективне виконання професійних функцій з метою дотримання й захисту прав і свобод людини, загальних інтересів суспільства та держави в умовах мирного та воєнного часу. У структурі феномену виокремлено загально професійну, особистісну, комунікативну, фахову та військово-спеціальну складові даного феномену, надано їх характеристику. Визначено змістові компоненти професійної компетентності майбутнього військового юриста: знанієво-термінологічний (охоплює загально професійну складову компетентності); професійно-особистісний (поєднує особистісну, комунікативну складові, а також мотивацію до професійної діяльності); професійно-операційний (включає фахові та військово-спеціальні складові компетентності). У статті представлено алгоритм проведення різних типів занять, спрямований на відпрацювання практичних дій, умінь, навичок при вивченні дисциплін циклу професійної підготовки: сприйняття студентом нової інформації (зразків дій, прийомів); усвідомлення й фіксація нової інформації; ознайомлення зі сферою (ситуаціями) її застосування та прикладами використання; оволодіння практичними діями, прийомами самостійного застосування знань; самостійне застосування дій у різних ситуаціях (набуття досвіду практичної діяльності). Розкрито дидактичні можливості супроводження виробничої (юридичної) практики та військового стажування студентів задля набуття майбутніми військовими юристами досвіду практичної діяльності під час їх проходження.

Denying Due Process While Promoting Democracy: The Iraqi Detention Story

During times of military occupation following an armed conflict it is not uncommon for the victors to implement mass detention programmes aimed both at providing security and bringing criminals to justice. International human rights regimes serve as overarching guidance for these programmes but are subject to broad interpretations, so it is often unclear what regulations or laws should inform day-to-day operations. Military and civilian lawyers may find themselves practising in a foreign jurisdiction for which they have no training or experience, let alone licensure. Law enforcement officers and military police are forced to adapt long-held practices to a new environment. Questions arise as to the rights that detained individuals possess, as these programmes frequently combine rules from different legal systems with no clear authoritative hierarchy. Attention is focused on the treatment of detained individuals with far less emphasis placed on their due process rights or other fundamental legal freedoms. This article examines one such instance, the US detention programme in Iraq, and highlights the numerous ethical and professional conflicts presented when members of one justice system are transplanted into another without proper preparation and background.

The U.S. Marine Corps’ Response to Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: An Analysis of the Family Advocacy Program and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program

In this article, we show how the U.S. military treats domestic violence and sexual assault as distinct forms of abuse, which has particular consequences for victims of intimate partner sexual violence. We explore how a specific U.S. military branch, the Marine Corps, complicates these issues further by providing services to intimate partner sexual violence victims from two different programs. Analyzing military orders and documents related to Family Advocacy Program and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program, interviews with eight military prosecutors, and the experiences of one military lawyer, we examine program and interactional-level factors that shape victim services, advocacy, and processes. We find that there are program differences in specialized services, coordinated services, and potential breaches of confidentiality related to victim’s cases. We recommend that the Marine Corps recognize the intersections of sexual violence and domestic violence and offer more tailored services to victims of intimate partner sexual violence.

In memory of M.I. Avdeev – a scientist, innovator and organizer of forensic medicine

The main milestones of life and scientific work of Professor M.I. Avdeeva (1901–1978) are presented. M.I. Avdeev published over 100 works on forensic medical examination, among which there are textbooks, guidelines and manuals for doctors and lawyers. His textbook for law schools has got five editions and was translated into other languages. He wrote Manual on Forensic Medicine for Military Lawyers and Doctors (1943), Guidelines for Determining the Severity of Bodily Harm. A number of monographs and collections on forensic science were published edited by M.I. Avdeev. On his initiative, the wording of some articles of the RSFSR Criminal Code was clarified. M.I. Avdeev for a long time has served as chairman of the board of Moscow and deputy chairman of the All-Union Scientific Societies of Forensic Physicians, was an honorary member of the Italian Society of Forensic and Insurance Medicine. M.I. Avdeev is a participant in the preparation of national encyclopedias. As time has shown, the basic theoretical and practical statements and discoveries of the scientist still form the basis of our knowledge in fundamental forensic medicine.

«Вполне подчинялся требованиям властей и условиям…». Вехи биографии военного юриста генерал-майора Н. М. Сеницкого

The article presents a historical and biographical study devoted to General N.M. Senitsky – the military lawyer, who served in Omsk in the “old” and later in the White army, became a Soviet employee, was subjected to political oppression. The case-study of social adaptation of the general sheds light on the military and socio-political situation in Siberia on the eve of and during the Civil War and in the first decade after its end. The nature of the study determines its key methods: biographical and problem-chronological. The biographical method allows the author to interpret the events of the era, linking them with Senitsky’s professional activities and personal life. The problem-chronological method permits to trace the logic behind the changes in the military-political sphere of the region and behind the facts of Senitsky’s biography and to underscore their correlation. The source base of the article is the complex of unpublished documents from the 1920–30s found by the author in the fonds of the Historical Archive of the Omsk Region and in the archive of the Directorate of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Omsk Region: sources of personal provenance (N.M. Senitsky's autobiographies and questionnaires), documents from the special register on former White Guard officers, and investigatory records of the Soviet state security bodies, as well as personal file of the lishenetz (disenfranchised person). The identified sources help to reconstruct N.M. Senitsky’s biography in great detail.

Diagnostics of Leadership Qualities of Specialists of "Man–Man" Type of Professions in Military and Civil Higher Education Institutions: Psychological and Pedagogical Approach

The article deals with the actual practical aspects of the problem of leadership qualities of future specialists of man–man type in military and civilian institutions of higher education. The aim of the research is to present the results of empirical research on the comparative diagnosis of the formation of leadership qualities of future specialists in the social sphere (psychologists, social employees) and cadets (military lawyers, psychologists). According to the results of scientific works, it has been determined that leadership qualities are a set of qualities that reflect the attitude to other people and society as a whole, allow oneself to influence other people, contribute to the creation of a positive atmosphere in the group, the team, is displayed in a stable, active, responsible behavior in order to achieve one's own and collective goals. Leadership qualities include commitment, determination, confidence, responsibility, activity, efficiency, success, influence, endurance. Diagnostics of formation of leadership qualities has been carried out by means of survey and a psychodiagnostic technique of the leadership abilities diagnostics by E. Zharikov, E. Krushelnytsky. The diagnostic results showed the predominance of students and cadets of the average level of leadership qualities formation.

The Soldier As an Autonomous Weapon

From a legal perspective, what is the difference between human soldiers and autonomous weapon systems? Eliav Lieblich and Eyal Benvenisti answer that in combat, soldiers are under the legal duty to exercise constant administrative discretion while autonomous weapons cannot exercise such discretion. I argue that in making this argument, Lieblich and Benvenisti fail to understand the concept of an order. Following Joseph Raz’s discussion of orders as exclusionary reasons, I argue that the entire point of an order is to negate the need of soldiers receiving orders to exercise administrative discretion. For this reason, a soldier who commits a crime while obeying an order may avoid criminal liability based on the criminal defense of obedience to superior orders, even if at the time the order was given, it could not withstand the scrutiny of administrative law. Soldiers need to disobey orders only in cases of manifestly unlawful orders. In order to detect manifestly unlawful orders, soldiers are not required to exercise discretion according to administrative law tests. A sound reading of the manifestly unlawful order doctrine shows that the difference between soldiers and autonomous weapons is not to be found in the realm of reason, but in the realm of emotions. The rise of military lawyers’ involvement in scrutinizing orders demonstrates this point. With lawyers’ scrutiny, soldiers are required to obey orders that were legally cleared in terms of administrative law. Hence, according to Lieblich and Benvenisti, in a world in which all orders are cleared by lawyers, the difference between soldiers and autonomous weapons would not exist. Yet it does exist, and it is based on rejection of orders that have been cleared in terms of administrative law yet still pierce the human eye.

Children, conflict, and the detention of ‘child soldiers’ in Canada and the United States: How framing contests shape policies

abstractThe detention of child soldiers is an example of an intractable policy controversy. In their advocacy of governance responses, policy-relevant actors adopt reductionist frames either of ‘victims’ – that require special protections – or of ‘perpetrators’ that necessitate the detention of individuals deemed threats. This article examines how the framing of a controversy influences policy responses. The ways in which policy actors in Canada and the United States acted from their frames and responded to frames of others on the issue of the detention of child soldiers is analyzed. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government officials, and military lawyers – across two national contexts – to build a comprehensive picture of these framing contests. Findings show that policy actors in both countries employed frame-diverging moves that prolong policy controversies. However, the adoption of the Canadian doctrine presents an example of a convergence of frames. NGOs and government officials engaged in strategies to create a shared framing that allowed to move beyond the perceived dilemma of child soldiers either as ‘victims’ or ‘perpetrators.’ These findings enhance not only our understanding of how framing dynamics shape governance responses but also demonstrate opportunities of using the research on framing processes in investigating complex experiences of children in conflict zones.

ПРОФІЛЬ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ МАЙБУТНЬОГО ВІЙСЬКОВОГО ЮРИСТА

The article is intended to justify and develop the profile of professional competence of a future military lawyer and to determine the content of relevant professional competences. As the research methods, the author used a defining analysis and generalization of theoretical positions of scientific literature in order to determine the state of development of the problem, clarifying the content of the concepts of "competence", "competence" and "professional competence"; systematization and logical generalization for the purpose of theoretical substantiation and development of the profile of the professional competence of the military lawyer.The article substantiates and develops the scope of the professional competence skills and qualifications of professional competence of military lawyers and defines the content of relevant professional competence. On the basis of analysis of scientific literature, the correlation of the concepts of the "professional competence" and "competence" is determined. The essence of the concept "professional competence" is determined, the types of lawyer’s competence are considered (special, social, autocompetence, extreme professional competence). On the basis of the study of the profession, the professional qualities of the specialist of the legal branch, which are necessary for the formation of professional competence are highlighted. The professional duties of the military lawyer are determined. The duties must be taken into account in order to determine the list and content of his professional competences. In the article, the scope of the professional competence skills and qualifications of the military lawyer covers terminology-knowledge, professional-personal, professional-operating competence. Terminology-knowledge competence is associated with the skills of the future specialist scientific legal categorical apparatus and professional terminology. Professional-personal competence covers professionally important qualities of the specialist, his communicative competence, and motivation formed for professional activity. Professional-operational competence reflects the whole spectrum of skills and abilities of the professional activity of a military lawyer, defines the concept of "professional competence of the future military lawyer", which is considered as a holistic, complex personal formation, integrative quality of the individual, which combines the knowledge of the future specialist of the knowledge system, skills and abilities of the military-legal direction, the formation of professionally important qualities of the lawyer's personality, which will ensure effective performance of its professional functions in order to protect human rights and freedoms, the general interests of society and the state. The practical value of the developed professional competence profile of a future military lawyer is to clearly identify the list of his professional competencies and the possibility of their purposeful formation in the educational process of a higher educational establishment. Prospects for further research are to identify and create appropriate educational conditions in the educational process of a higher educational establishment that will contribute to the formation of the professional competence of future military lawyers.

Military Lawyers Making Law: Israel’s Governance of the West Bank and Gaza

This Article examines Israeli military lawyers’ practice of international humanitarian law (IHL) revolving around the West Bank and Gaza. Based on interviews with legal officers serving in the army between 1967–2009 and archival materials, it interrogates these lawyers’ work—the stories that they tell about law, their legal interpretations and their interactions with military decision makers. This interrogation is set in the context of broader structural, historical, and political shifts. Anchored around lawyers’ stories about law, their narration of law’s relationship with politics, and its position in relation to violence, this account sets out to contribute to discussions on lawyers’—and by extension law’s—past and present positions in states’ military affairs.