Coalition Operations and the Law

• Author: M. H. MacDougall
• Position: Canadian Forces, is the Deputy Judge Advocate/Operations
• Pages: 195-203

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Coalition Operations and the Law

M. H. MacDougalT

This paper addresses the practical side of the application of the law of armed

conflict and domestic law requirements during coalition combat opera-

tions; highlighting areas where different legal structures or divergent national in-

terpretation of the applicable international framework may have significant

impact. Iam going to do this by briefly canvassing three such areas in the context of

Operation Enduring Freedom. Two of these are directly related to the topic of

combatants and civilians. The third is acompletely distinct topic—the conduct of

coalition investigatory boards.

Coalition Boards ofInquiry

The first area Iwould like to discuss is coalition boards, using the Coalition Board

that was convened by the United States Air Force to investigate the Tarnak Farms

Range friendly fire incident and the Canadian Board ofInquiry that was ordered by

the Minister of National Defence (MND) to investigate the same incident as afo-

cus. Ido not intend, however, to comment on any substantive findings of either

board. Rather, my emphasis will be on the procedural issues that arose during the

conduct ofthe concurrent boards that were investigating the incident and the reso-

lution of those issues.

The facts are undisputed. On the evening of April 17, 2002, soldiers from Alpha

Company, Third Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were