The Handbook of the Law of Visiting Forces

International efforts to implement and further develop military partnership programmes have stressed the need to elaborate clear status provisions for military and civilian personnel of foreign armed forces in a receiving state. This handbook evaluates existing experience in state practice and describes options for further legal development. It offers a perception of the immunity of foreign armed forces based on historic developments and current treaties with a view to the question whether rules of customary law are evolving in this respect. As a joint effort of international experts, the handbook provides an up-to-date commentary on applicable status law provisions as contained in the NATO Status of Forces Agreement of 1951 (NATO SOFA), which was adapted more recently by the Partnership for Peace Status of Forces Agreement of 1995 (PfP SOFA), and the Paris Protocol of 1952 on NATO Military Headquarters. Case studies describe and evaluate specific practice in Germany, Japan, Korea, and Russia.