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Aid to the Civil Power (ACP) or Military Aid to the Civil Power (MACP) is the use of the armed forces in support of the civil authorities of a state. Different countries have varying policies regarding the relationship between their military and civil authorities.
Under certain circumstances, the Australian Defence Force can be called upon to assist with law enforcement. State or territory civilian police have primary responsibility for law and order. Under section 119 of the Constitution of Australia, "The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against domestic violence." This is further explained in section 51 of the Defence Act which states that:
Where the Governor of a State has proclaimed that domestic violence exists therein, the Governor-General, upon the application of the Executive Government of the State, may, by proclamation, declare that domestic violence exists in that State, and may call out the Permanent Forces and in the event of their numbers being insufficient may also call out such of the Emergency Forces and the Reserve Forces as may be necessary for the protection of that State, and the services of the Forces so called out may be utilised accordingly for the protection of that State against domestic violence.
Military forces have been deployed twice on the request of state or territory governments, and deployment authorised on one other occasion but not required:
Australian military regulations also allow the federal government to use military forces "on its own initiative, for the protection of its servants or property, or the safeguarding of its interests". This has been done three times:
In addition, unarmed troops and defence force equipment have been used in industrial disputes, such as the 1949 Australian coal strike and the 1989 Australian pilots' dispute, under the "safeguarding of its interests" provisions.
The Austrian Armed Forces can be requested by all authorities on federal, state, district or municipal level in their respective sphere of competence in exceptional events. The federal government has to approve a deployment, if more than 100 soldiers are requested. ACP and MACP (called Assistenzeinsatz / AssE) can only be temporary, but are used extensively in Austria:
Deployments to support Law enforcement in Austria:
Deployments to support civil authorities:
Canada has provisions, similar to the UK's military aid to the civil authorities, for military aid to the civil power inscribed in its National Defence Act , an historical inheritance from its days as a British dominion. However, the application is significantly different due to the federal nature of Canada, where the maintenance of "law and order" is the exclusive right and responsibility of the provinces.
The political authority empowered to requisition armed military "aid to the civil power" is therefore the solicitor general of the affected province in accordance with the National Defence Act, rather than the War Measures Act or its subsequent replacement, the Emergencies Act . This requisition is forwarded directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff (not to the federal government of Canada) who is obligated by law to execute the request. However, the Chief of the Defence Staff alone can determine the nature and level of forces to be committed.
The requesting province may subsequently be billed to pay the cost of the military aid, although the federal government most often waives it. One exception in recent years resulted from Toronto mayor Mel Lastman's request for military assistance following a snow storm in 1999, where at least 438 troops were deployed [2] after the Ontario government acceded; this deployment was deemed by the Canadian government to be a trivialization of the military's emergency response role and the requesting authority was billed accordingly.
While the military is legally free to decide how to deal with an issue in regard to which it has been called out, in practice it works under the direction of the police forces or government of the province that has requested its aid. Such requests are made relatively often for specialized resources such as armoured vehicles (e.g. hostage situations) and technical capabilities not possessed by police forces.
They are also called out in the case of police strikes in those provinces that have unionised provincial police forces. Quebec has not hesitated to call on the Army for such help [ citation needed ] because the Army is the only other agency with French-speaking units able to replace striking police; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has few reserves able to provide a "surge" capability, and its French-speaking capability is limited.
Significant use of the Canadian Forces in aid of the Quebec civil power includes two relatively recent major civil crises:
As well, the Canadian Armed Forces have been called in to deal with labour crises, such as cavalry troops shipped to Edmonton to deal with an expected unemployed riot in 1931 [3] and armoured cars to use strikers at Stratford in 1934. As well, in 1837 prior to Confederation, British troops were used to put down domestic rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada, and in the early years of existence as a federation, the Canadian Militia was mobilized for First Nation and Métis insurrections in its "territories", 1869 and 1885 (the first and second Riel Rebellions).
The federal government can and does use the military in aid of its own responsibilities, such as guarding federal buildings and facilities. Since 1993, the Canadian Armed Forces have also provided the country's federal counter-terrorism forces, replacing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in that function.[ citation needed ] (See JTF2 for details of request and control of this capability).
The post-war Constitution of Germany strictly forbids the use of military force in police functions. In order to split the power of the government, the functions that MACP has in other countries are carried out by special or specialized police forces like the Bereitschaftspolizei units, each with a high number of officers, of each state police force, which are under the control of the state governments and not of the federal government.
For some actions, federal police forces can be used either by orders of the federal administration and federal judiciary or by request of the state government. The counter-terrorist unit GSG 9 is part of the Bundespolizei (until 2005 known as the Bundesgrenzschutz ) and is well known in Germany for its antiterrorist missions. However, several state police corps maintains similar units, the SEK (Spezialeinsatzkommando). The Bundesgrenzschutz and the GSG 9 were historically combatants and they had military ranks, but have always been under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, similar to the internal troops in Eastern Europe during the Cold War period.
This strict separation between civil and military power was enacted to prevent the army from becoming a political power again in internal affairs and to secure its subordination to the civil power. Since the 1990s, a number of conservative politicians has called for an abolition of this rule, but there seems to be no majority for such a change.
But a new law was passed in September 2004, the Air Security Act (Luftsicherheitsgesetz). From September 24, 2004 until February 2005 there was an exception from the use of military force regarding air security: In a case of imminent danger, the Bundeswehr and its air force branch, the German Air Force were authorised to use force against an aircraft.
As ultima ratio, the Minister of Defense was empowered to give the order to shoot down an aircraft if the aircraft was used as a weapon against humans and there was no other way to repel the attack. Air policing is a traditional task of the German Air Force. However, the Luftsicherheitsgesetz was declared unconstitutional on February 15, 2006, by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht). The court held that no civil aircraft may be shot down, even if the aircraft is used as a weapon by terrorist. The court held that the passengers' dignity and right to life would be violated if the aircraft was shot down.
In 2012, the Bundesverfassungsgericht judged that the military may intervene in "exceptional, imminent incidents of catastrophic scale" as a last resort. In the case of a hijacked plane by terrorists, the German Air Force may force the plane back or fire warning shots – a downing of the plane remains forbidden, unless every passenger of the plane is a terrorist. [4] [5] Such a case of "exceptional, imminent incidents of catastrophic scale" has to be determined, as ruled by the Bundesverfassungsgericht in 2013, by the whole Cabinet of Germany (Bundesregierung), declaring a regulation void that previously allowed the Federal Minister of Defence (Bundesverteidigungsminister) to decide solely. [6]
In Indonesia, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) is regulated in the "Tri Darma Eka Karma" Doctrine of the TNI which states the role of the military to be involved in non-combat roles known as "OMSP" (Operasi Militer Selain Perang) translated: "Military operations other than war". This role is stated that the Military's purpose for conducting the "OMSP" is to basically maintain the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity and maintaining the safety of the nation as well as helping to improve the welfare of the people. [7] According to the Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces General Hadi Tjahjanto, the tasks of the military in conducting the OMSP is to implement duties such as counter terrorism, border security, assisting regional governments, assisting the Indonesian National Police (Polri), disaster relief, assist security during state visits, as well as carrying out Peacekeeping operations under the United Nations. [8] The Indonesian National Armed Forces is also in charge and responsible for the security of the President and Vice President, Former President and Former Vice-President along with their families and foreign VVIPs (Head of state or head of government) visiting Indonesia. [9]
The Indonesian military to this day continues to be heavily involved in state civil affairs. [10] According to the TNI commander, one of the role of the military is to basically assist the Indonesian National Police in terms of national security and order. The military are also likely to be called upon in response to civil unrest incidents which happen in the country such as the incidents which took place in Papua, [11] Aceh, Poso, and Jakarta, other than that, the military is also involved in many tasks concerning to assist in security during national civil occasions such as during the national elections. [12] The military are also likely to be deployed to assist the police during big-scale riots and protests which occur in urban settings near vital installations. [13] Sometimes, the military are also posted in vital public locations together with the police such as in Airports and Railway stations during peak seasons.
Other than assisting the police, the military also assists other civil government institutions such as the National Search and Rescue Agency during disaster relief operations. Currently, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Military has been highly involved in tackling the pandemic.
In Ireland, the Defence Forces provide assistance through Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) arrangements to the Government of Ireland. The Army, Naval Service and Air Corps also provide Aid to Civil Community and Aid to Government departments, particularly in a supplementary role to the Garda Síochána, the national police force. Responsibilities include national security (Supplementing high risk prisoner escort, intelligence), cash escorts, explosive ordnance disposal, maritime safety, search and rescue, drug interdiction (Navy), fisheries protection (Navy), patrols of vital state installations and border patrols (including armed checkpoints), air ambulance service and non-combatant evacuation. Examples include; Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) aircraft being flown and maintained by Air Corps personnel, the Air Corps and Naval Service assisting in search and rescue (the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) is a civilian agency which operates in the Republic of Ireland and some parts of Northern Ireland), the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) carrying out domestic counter-terrorism operations and the Directorate of Military Intelligence carrying out domestic counter-intelligence duties. [14]
In 2008 the Italian Government decided to use soldiers from the Army, Navy and Air Force to patrol cities and protect high-value buildings (embassies, consulates, monuments). When military personnel patrol cities they are always accompanied by an agent from the Polizia di Stato (State Police), a military from the Carabinieri or a military from Guardia di Finanza. [15]
Carabinieri are the 4th Armed force in Italy while Guardia di Finanza are a military body and are regular police forces with military status in Italy.
In the United Kingdom, Military Aid to the Civil Power is one of the three classifications of Military Aid to the Civil Authorities. MACP encompasses the provision of military assistance (armed if necessary) in its maintenance of law, order and public safety using specialist capabilities or equipment in situations beyond the capability of the Civil Power. This includes capabilities such as Explosive Ordnance Disposal and mountain rescue (where it is provided by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service)
Commander Home Command is the Standing Joint Commander responsible for the planning and execution of civil contingency operations within the UK landmass and territorial waters during any military aid to UK civil authorities. [16]
The Posse Comitatus Act, passed in 1878, generally prohibits Federal military personnel (except the United States Coast Guard) and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress.
The original act only referred to the Army, but the Air Force was added in 1956 and the Navy and Marine Corps have been included by a regulation of the Department of Defense. This law is mentioned whenever it appears that the Department of Defense is interfering in domestic disturbances.
However, the National Guard may still be used for police-like duties if still under control of the state, as with the 1967 Detroit riot. Repeated caveats have been added to the Posse Comitatus Act over the years by subsequent legislation.
On June 1, 2020, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 in response to riots following the murder of George Floyd. [17] [18]
The Indonesian National Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Army (TNI-AD), Navy (TNI-AL), and Air Force (TNI-AU). The President of Indonesia is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. As of 2023, it comprises approximately 400,000 military personnel including the Indonesian Marine Corps, which is a branch of the Navy.
The Malaysian Armed Forces, are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active personnel is 113,000 along with reserve forces at 51,600.
The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the military forces of Nigeria. The forces consist of three service branches: the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force. The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising his constitutional authority through the Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for the management of the military and its personnel. The operational head of the AFN is the Chief of Defence Staff, who is subordinate to the Nigerian Defence Minister. With a force of more than 230,000 active personnel, the Nigerian military is one of the largest uniformed combat services in Africa. According to Global Firepower, the Nigerian Armed Forces are the fourth-most powerful military in Africa, and ranked 35th on its list, internationally.
The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law signed on June 18, 1878, by President Rutherford B. Hayes that limits the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States. Congress passed the Act as an amendment to an army appropriation bill following the end of Reconstruction and updated it in 1956, 1981 and 2021.
Military aid to the civil community (MACC) is a phrase referring to the armed forces providing a service to the civilian community. It is used in many countries, particularly the United Kingdom.
A commander-in-chief or supreme commander is the person who exercises supreme command and control over an armed force or a military branch. As a technical term, it refers to military competencies that reside in a country's executive leadership, a head of state, head of government, or other designated government official.
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear reconnaissance, logistic traffic management, counterinsurgency, and detainee handling.
A sky marshal is a covert law enforcement or counter-terrorist agent on board a commercial aircraft to counter aircraft hijackings. Such an agent is also known as an air marshal, a flight marshal, or an in-flight security officer (IFSO). Sky marshals may be provided by airlines such as El Al, or by government agencies such as the Austrian Einsatzkommando Cobra, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, German Federal Police, National Security Guard in India, Metropolitan Police MO19 from London, Pakistan Airports Security Force, or US Federal Air Marshal Service.
The Defence Forces are the armed forces of Ireland. They encompass the Army, Air Corps, Naval Service, and Reserve Defence Forces.
Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection is a class of protective measures taken in situations where chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear hazards may be present. CBRN defense consists of CBRN passive protection, contamination avoidance, and weapons of mass destruction mitigation.
The Indonesian Army is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR) "People's Security Army" first emerged as a paramilitary and police corps.
The Indonesian Navy is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Indonesia, to protect Indonesia's maritime strategic interests, to protect the islands surrounding Indonesia, and to defend against seaborne threats.
The Pakistan Rangers are a pair of paramilitary federal law enforcement corps' in Pakistan. The two corps are the Punjab Rangers and the Sindh Rangers. There is also a third corps headquarters in Islamabad but is only for units transferred from the other corps for duties in the federal capital. They are both part of the Civil Armed Forces. The corps' operate administratively under the Pakistan Army but under separate command structures and wear distinctly different uniforms. However, they are usually commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan Army. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend the approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long border with neighbouring India. They are also often involved in major internal and external security operations with the regular Pakistani military and provide assistance to provincial police forces to maintain law and order against crime, terrorism and unrest. In addition, the Punjab Rangers, together with the Indian Border Security Force, participate in an elaborate flag lowering ceremony at the Wagah−Attari border crossing east of Lahore. The mutually-recognized India–Pakistan international border is different from the disputed and heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC), where the Pakistani province of Punjab adjoins Jammu and Kashmir and the undisputed international border effectively ends. Consequently, the LoC is not managed by the paramilitary Punjab Rangers, but by the regular Pakistan Army.
Provosts are military police (MP) whose duties are policing solely within the armed forces of a country, as opposed to gendarmerie duties in the civilian population. However, many countries use their gendarmerie for provost duties.
Military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) is the collective term used by the Ministry of Defence of the Government of the United Kingdom to refer to the operational deployment of the armed forces of the United Kingdom in support of the civilian authorities, other government departments and the community as a whole. Commander Home Command, in his capacity as Standing Joint Commander (UK) is the standing joint commander responsible for the planning and execution of civil contingency operations within the UK landmass and territorial waters during any military aid to UK civil authorities.
Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) is the process by which United States military assets and personnel can be used to assist in missions normally carried out by civil authorities. These missions have included: responses to natural and man-made disasters, law enforcement support, special events, and other domestic activities. A recent example of the use of DSCA is the military response to Hurricane Katrina. DSCA is the overarching guidance of how the United States military can be requested by a federal agency and the procedures that govern the actions of the military during employment.
MDP officers are attested as constables in one of the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdom: England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but can exercise their powers in matters relating to the Ministry of Defence Estate throughout the United Kingdom, and additionally in the circumstances described below. MDP officers' jurisdiction relates to a subject rather than geographic area and is set out in section 2 of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987, which was amended by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. MDP officers are based throughout the UK and exercise their jurisdiction over matters connected with the Defence Estate; there is no requirement for them to be on Ministry of Defence land when doing so.
Operation Rescript was the code name for the British military operation to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies between 2020 and 2022. It was described as the UK's "biggest ever homeland military operation in peacetime" by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), involving up to 23,000 personnel within a specialist task force, named the COVID Support Force (CSF). The support was given at the request of the UK government, its devolved administrations and civil authorities through the Military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) mechanism.
Operation Broadshare is the code name for the British military operation to address the COVID-19 pandemic overseas, primarily in the British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and British overseas military bases. The operation runs in parallel to a similar military operation in the United Kingdom, named Operation Rescript.
The Indonesian National Armed Forces Strategic Intelligence Agency, abbreviated BAIS TNI, is a state institution that specifically handles military intelligence and is under the command of the Indonesian National Armed Forces headquarters. BAIS time-frames for actual and forecasted intelligence and strategy analysis for the future for the Armed Forces Commander and for the Ministry of Defence.