Discrimination in the armed forces: A comparative analysis of the impact of UK and US civilian law on the military

Ball, Richard

Abstract

The civil-military relationship has predominantly been evaluated from a sociological or political science perspective. This paper examines the position of the Armed Forces within society, this so-called civil-military relationship, from a legal perspective. It undertakes a comparative analysis of US and UK civil law, in particular discrimination law, to determine how civil law has impacted on the military per se, rather than military law. The argument presented builds on Schiff’s concordance model of civil-military relations creating a socio-legal model of the inter-relationship of the armed forces with civil society grounded in cultural traditions but with absolute conditions. As such the paper provides insights for armed forces in general, not just the UK and US, as to future directions for the military’s relationship with civilian society.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: IUS on the Armed Forces Conference, Chicago
• Start Date: Oct 20, 2011
• End Date: Oct 23, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 8, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: UK armed forces, US armed forces, civil-military relations, discrimination law, equality law, human right law
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/958319