The present book is designed to serve as a companion to two preceding volumes dealing respectively with the jus ad bellum and the jus in bello: War, Aggression and Self-Defence (4th edn, 2005, CUP) and The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict (2004, CUP). The international legal regime of belligerent occupation constitutes a segment of the jus in bello, complementing the compendium of norms governing the conduct of hostilities.

The study will address some fundamental quandaries associated with the regime of belligerent occupation, pertaining to the interrelationship between the Occupying Power, the displaced sovereign and the civilian population. But the text will equally deal with more commonplace questions with which this materia is riddled. How does belligerent occupation commence; how is it maintained; and how is it terminated? What is the rudimentary distinction between belligerent and other types of occupation? Who are the persons protected under belligerent occupation, and what is the scope of their protection? What is the interaction between the law of belligerent occupation and the law of human rights? What jurisdiction does the Occupying Power wield in the legislative, judicial and executive spheres? What specific legal safeguards are offered to the civilian population under occupation from capital punishment, collective penalties, deportations, detention, compulsory work, destruction or seizure of property, and other measures curtailing ordinary freedoms? Conversely, what measures can an Occupying Power lawfully resort to when encountering forcible resistance – and direct participation in hostilities – by embittered inhabitants of an occupied territory?