Australia
Practice Relating to Rule 154. Obedience to Superior Orders
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) provides: “If an order is ambiguous, clarification should be sought. If clarification is unavailable, any action taken must comply with LOAC [law of armed conflict].”
Australia’s LOAC Manual (2006) states: “If an order is ambiguous, clarification should be sought. If clarification is unavailable, any action taken must comply with LOAC.”
The LOAC Manual (2006) replaces both the Defence Force Manual (1994) and the Commanders’ Guide (1994).
Under Australia’s Defence Force Discipline Act (1982), disobedience to a “lawful command” is a punishable military offence.
At the CDDH, Australia stated that it “supported the objectives sought in the ICRC text of article 77 [of the draft Additional Protocol I]. Since the article should relate solely to grave breaches, paragraph 1 could be approved without reservation.”