INTERNATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL LAW BRANCH
SJA Seal
Staff Judge Advocate
Washington, D.C.

The International and Operational Law Branch provides advice to the Commandant of the Marine Corps in his capacity as both a Service Chief and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; to the Headquarters Marine Corps staff; and to Marine judge advocates worldwide. JAO also provides service input to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff and participates as a standing member of the Department of Defense Law of War Working Group. JAO focuses on international and operational law matters such as treaty interpretation and compliance, negotiation of international agreements, law of armed conflict, detention operations, rules of engagement, law of the sea, training and equipping of foreign forces, non-lethal weapons, cyberspace law, intelligence law, and domestic operations law. JAO also coordinates worldwide law of war training conducted by the Law of War Detachment, which is staffed by reserve judge advocates.

Main Line
COM: 703-614-2793

Alternate Lines
COM: 703-614-6799
COM: 703-693-8408
COM: 703-614-2532

The LOW training slides are routinely updated.  Please check for updates prior to use.

Certain international and operational legal issues recur with some consistency while in a deployed or garrison environment.  Fiscal law, captured enemy property, law of war application, interpreting international agreements, and weapons legal reviews are a few of the substantive matters confronted by operational law judge advocates.  See the below links for a more detailed explanation of these issues.