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Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]

Control of Military Forces

William Underwood

Content type:
Encyclopedia entries
Product:
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]
Article last updated:
April 2021

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 11 December 2024

Subject(s):
Constitutional processes — Commander-in-chief — Military forces — War

General Editors: Rainer Grote, Frauke Lachenmann, Rüdiger Wolfrum
Managing Editor: Martina Mantovani

1 Control of military forces is the authority to direct and otherwise govern military forces. Constitutional and statutory laws, administrative regulations, and internal military discipline regimes may be used to establish and allocate control of military forces. In most states, constitutional law establishes and allocates the power of supreme command—also known as ‘command in chief’. This is the highest position in the military chain of command with the authority to direct all subordinate forces (Fleming v Page (1850) (US)). The constitutions of many states also...
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