Martial law Totally Explained

Everything about Martial Law totally explained

Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.
Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan after World War II or the American South during the early stages of Reconstruction. In addition it's used by governments to enforce their rule, for example after a coup d'état (Thailand 2006), when threatened by popular protests (Tiananmen Square protests of 1989), or to crack down on the opposition (Poland 1981). Martial law can also be declared in cases of major natural disasters, however most countries use a different legal construct like "state of emergency".
In many countries martial law imposes particular rules, one of which is curfew. Often, under this system, the administration of justice is left to a military tribunal, called a court-martial. The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus is likely to occur.

Martial law in other countries

Australia

Martial law was first used in Australia from midnight Sunday 4 March, 1804 during the Castle Hill convict rebellion, also known as the second Battle of Vinegar Hill, a reference to the Irish engagement of 1798 in which many of the convicts had previously been involved. The militia were called out under the auspices of posse comitatus to assist in suppressing the rebelling convicts. Martial law was then lifted.

Canada

Though the Canadian government has never actually imposed martial law, it has come close through a piece of legislation known as the War Measures Act. This act was invoked three times, in both world wars due to riots over conscription (the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and Conscription Crisis of 1944) and in the October Crisis of 1970, which resulted in 1628 raids and 200 subsequent arrests. The War Measures Act technically doesn't invoke martial law, as the military doesn't take over the administration of justice. A better comparison would be to declaring a State of Emergency. Indeed, the War Measures Act was later replaced by the Emergencies Act in 1988.
Prior to Confederation, martial law was proclaimed and applied on the territory that would later become the Province of Quebec during the American invasion in 1775-1776, and on the territory of Lower Canada during the insurrections of 1837-1838. On December 5, following the events of November 1837, martial law was proclaimed in the district of Montreal by the Parliament of Lower Canada. It remained in force until April 27, 1838. Martial law was proclaimed a second time on November 4, 1838 and was applied until August 24, 1839.

People's Republic of China (Mainland China)

The constitution of the People's Republic of China grants the President of the People's Republic of China the power to declare martial law in pursuance of a decision of the National People's Congress to declare martial law. In 1989, President Yang Shangkun unilaterally invoked the martial law clause to allow the military to stage a crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters. The legality of this action, in the absence of a previous decision by the NPC, has been questioned, and in 2004 the clause was finally weakened into a provision that allowed the government to simply declare a State of Emergency. Martial law was declared in November 2004 to quell ethnic clashes in Langchenggang, Henan province.

Egypt

In Egypt, a State of Emergency has been imposed almost continuously since 1967. Due to the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981, martial law was declared. Egypt has been under martial law ever since - the Parliament has renewed the emergency laws every three years since they were imposed. The legislation was last extended in 2003 and was due to expire at the end of May 2006; plans were in place to replace them with new anti-terrorism laws but after the Dahab bombings in April martial law was renewed for another two years. (External Link

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) Martial law allows the government to detain anyone deemed to be threatening state security for renewable 45-day periods without court orders and also give military courts the power to try civilians.
Public demonstrations are banned under the legislation.

India

Martial law in India is different from rest of the world. According to the Indian Constitution, during peacetime, governmental and the people's interests are under the control of the Prime Minister, Parliament, and the Supreme Court, but all armed forces (except police, which are under the control of the Home Ministry) are under the direct control of the Department of Defense and the President (who also controls the national guard and paramilitary forces). In case of a non-environmental crisis, all armed forces, national guard, and paramilitary forces, along with the Department of Defense, come under the strict orders of the President; while police, home ministry, justice department, and government comes under strict control of the Prime Minister (without any intervention by Parliament and the Supreme Court). In such a crisis, solving an issue/problem, stabilizing the nation, and defense are considered higher priorities than the people's interest.
In case of an environmental crisis, the Indian government declares states of emergency, in which the emergency relief forces of the Indian Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the police come under the strict control of the President of India. So far, Indian government declared State of Emergency in the following times:-

1919 - After General Reginald Dyer fires upon a crowd of protesters, where 379 are killed, Martial Law is declared throughout Punjab.
1975 - Indira Gandhi declares state of emergency.
1984 December - Gas leak at Union Carbide pesticides plant in Bhopal. Thousands are killed immediately, many more subsequently die or are left disabled.
1999 October - Cyclone devastates eastern state of Orissa, leaving at least 10,000 dead.
2001 January - Massive earthquakes hit the western state of Gujarat, leaving at least 30,000 dead.
2004 December - Thousands are killed when tidal waves, caused by a powerful undersea earthquake off the Indonesian coast, devastate coastal communities in the south and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
2005 July - More than 1,000 people are killed in floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains in Mumbai (Bombay) and Maharashtra region.
2005 8 October - An earthquake, with its epicenter in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, kills more than 1,000 people in Indian-administered Kashmir. NOTE:- Indian government declares state of emergency during any crisis that's administered as terrorist activity.
2003 August - At least 50 people are killed in two simultaneous bomb blasts in Bombay. Also, bombs kill 62 people in Delhi.
2006 14 people are killed by bomb blasts in the Hindu pilgrimage city of Varanasi.
2006 May - Suspected Islamic militants kill 35 Hindus in the worst attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir for several months.
2006 11 July - More than 180 people are killed in bomb attacks on rush-hour trains in Mumbai. Investigators blame Islamic militants based in Pakistan.
2006 8 September - Explosions outside a mosque in the western town of Malegaon kill at least 31 people.
2007 18 February - 68 passengers, most of them Pakistanis, are killed by bomb blasts and a blaze on a train traveling from New Delhi to the Pakistani city of Lahore.

For further reading please browse through BBC Archives in South Asia section, relating to India.

Israel

Military administrative government was in effect from 1949 to 1966 over some geographical areas of Israel, which had large Arab populations, primarily the Negev, Galilee, and the Triangle. The residents of these areas were subject to a number of controlling measures that amounted to martial law. Permits from the military governor had to be procured to travel more than a given distance from their registered place of residence and curfew, administrative detentions, and expulsions were common. Instructions of the Home Front Command are obligatory under martial law, rather than merely recommendatory. The President vetoed the Defense Authorization Act of 2008 on December 27, 2007.A provision in the 2008 defense authorization bill would have repealed this section of PL 109-364.

New Orleans, Louisiana in the War of 1812

During the War of 1812, U.S. General Andrew Jackson imposed martial law in New Orleans, Louisiana after capturing the encampment of New Orleans from the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

The Territory of Hawaii

During World War II (1939 to 1945) what is now the State of Hawaii was held under martial law from 1941 to 1945.

Hurricane Katrina

Contrary to many media reports at the time, martial law wasn't declared in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, because no such term exists in Louisiana state law. However, a State of Emergency was declared, which does give unique powers to the state government similar to those of martial law. On the evening of August 31, 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin nominally declared "martial law" and said that officers don't have to worry about civil rights and Miranda rights in stopping the looters. Federal troops were a common sight in New Orleans after Katrina. At one point, as many as 15,000 federal troops and National Guardsmen patrolled the city. Additionally it has been reported that armed contractors from Blackwater USA assisted in policing the city. See also "What Is Martial Law? And is New Orleans under it?" by the Slate Explainer.