Other Official Documents Related to the Law of War

In addition to the DoD Law of War Manual, the following official documents related to U.S. military practice in the law of war may be useful to DoD personnel, including legal practitioners. See the official treaty documents related to the law of war for more information.

For many years, the Department of State has published annually the Digest of United States Practice in International Law (Digest). The Digest has provided a historical record of the views and practice of the U.S. Government in public and private international law.

This webpage is a work-in-progress, and we hope to update it with additional documents. If you have any comments, such as suggestions for other useful documents to include, please let us know by emailing us.

Department of Defense Documents:

• Memorandum from DoD General Counsel Paul Ney: Brief Overview of the Law of War, July 2, 2020
• Department of Defense Law of War Manual (June 2015, updated July 2023)
• Memorandum from Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense, Principles Related to the Protection of Medical Care Provided by Impartial Humanitarian Organizations During Armed Conflict: Memo from Secretary Carter (2016)
• Department of Defense Response to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) "Questionnaire on Article 36 Review Process": Questionnaire Response (2017)

Department of Defense Directives:

• Department of Defense Law of War Program: Directive 2311.01 (July 2, 2020)
• Department of Defense Detainee Program: Directive 2310.01E (March 15, 2022)
• Autonomy in Weapons Systems: Directive 3000.09 (January 25, 2023)
• The Defense Acquisition System: Directive 5000.01 (Sept. 9, 2020)
• Department of Defense Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical Questioning: Directive 3115.09 (Oct. 11, 2012, incorporating change 3, effective Oct. 29, 2020)

Department of Defense Instructions:

• Identification (ID) Cards Required by the Geneva Conventions: Instruction 1000.01 (Apr. 16, 2012, incorporating change 2, effective June 4, 2018)

Public Remarks Regarding the Law of War

• Paul Ney, DoD General Counsel, Remarks at BYU Law School:  Legal Considerations Related to the U.S. Air Strike Against Qassem Soleimani, March 4, 2020
• Paul Ney, DoD General Counsel, Remarks at U.S. Cyber Command Legal Conference, March 2, 2020
• Paul Ney, DoD General Counsel, Charney Lecture:  The Rule of Law in International Security Affairs: A U.S. Defense Department Perspective, Sept. 3, 2019
• Paul Ney, DoD General Counsel, Keynote Address to Israel Defense Forces’ Third International Conference on the Law of Armed Conflict, May 28, 2019
• Charles A. Allen, DoD Deputy General Counsel (International Affairs), Remarks at the Defense Innovation Board Event on Artificial Intelligence and Ethics at Stanford University, April 25, 2019
• Jennifer O’Connor, DoD General Counsel, Remarks at New York University School of Law:  Applying the Law of Targeting to the Modern Battlefield, Nov. 28, 2016
• Stephen Preston, DoD General Counsel, Remarks at the American Society of International Law:  The Legal Framework for the United States’ Use of Military Force Since 9/11, April 10, 2015
• Jeh Charles Johnson, DoD General Counsel, Remarks at Yale Law School:  National security law, lawyers, and lawyering in the Obama Administration, Feb. 22, 2012
• Jeh Charles Johnson, DoD General Counsel, Remarks at Oxford University:  The Conflict Against Al Qaeda and its Affiliates:  How Will It End?, Nov. 30, 2012
• William J. Haynes, II, DoD General Counsel, Remarks to the American College of Trial Lawyers, March 8, 2008

U.S. Documents Regarding Civilian Casualties:

• Executive Order from the President of the United States, United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures To Address Civilian Casualties in U.S. Operations Involving the Use of Force: Exec. Order No. 13732, 81 Fed. Reg. 130 (2016)
• Executive Order from the President of the United States, Revocation of Reporting Requirement: Exec. Order No. 13862, 84 Fed. Reg. 47 (2019)
• Department of Defense Annual Reports to Congress on Civilian Casualties in Connection with United States Military Operations: 
  • Department of Defense Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations in 2021
  • Department of Defense Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations in 2020
  • Department of Defense Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations in 2019
  • Department of Defense Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations in 2018
  • Department of Defense Report on Civilian Casualties in Connection With United States Military Operations in 2017
• Letter from Owen West, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Regarding Seven Coalition Strikes in Raqqa, Syria during the Summer and Fall of 2017:  Letter from Owen West (2018)

U.S. Working Papers to the CCW Group of Government Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems:

• U.S. Commentaries on the Guiding Principles, Sept. 1, 2020
• U.S. Working Paper, Draft articles on autonomous weapon systems – prohibitions and other regulatory measures on the basis of international humanitarian law (“IHL”) (2023): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2023/WP.4/Rev.2
• U.S. Working Paper, Principles and Good Practices on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (2022): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2022/WP.2
• U.S. Working Paper, Building on Chile’s Proposed Four Elements of Further Work for the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) (2021): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2021/WP.2
• U.S. Working Paper, Implementing International Humanitarian Law in the Use of Autonomy in Weapon Systems (2019): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2019/WP.5
• U.S. Working Paper, Human-Machine Interaction in the Development, Deployment, and Use of Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons (2018): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.2/2018/WP.4
• U.S. Working Paper, Humanitarian benefits of emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapon systems (2018): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2018/WP.4
• U.S. Working Paper, Autonomy in Weapon Systems (2017): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2017/WP.6
• U.S. Working Paper, Characteristics of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (2017): U.N. Doc. CCW/GGE.1/2017/WP.7