Legal Requirements for Humanitarian Assistance Operations

This briefing presents the results of a study conducted by the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) for the Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC) and the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). Our goal was to determine how the Marine Corps can improve its ability to conduct humanitarian assistance operations (HAOs) through changes in doctrine, organization, training and equipment. This particular briefing presents an analysis of the legal requirements of HAOs. Although HAOs occur within the United States as well as abroad, here we focus only on those legal requirements specific to foreign HAOs.