text: Chapter 2
  Vetting
  2-91. Successful building partner capacity relies on dependable vetting processes (such as biometric data
  collection devices for verifying identities) to screen potential civil servants from the host nation. These
  processes help commanders to select qualified, competent officials while reducing security risks. Vetting
  processes should include the participation of local inhabitants to ensure transparency, cultural sensitivity,
  and legitimacy. Commanders monitor these processes closely to prevent the exclusion of specific religious,
  ethnic, or tribal groups. (For additional information on security screening, see FM 2-22.2.)
  COURTS AND CLAIMS
  2-92. The ordinary courts in areas under control of the transitional military authority generally continue to
  function during a military occupation. The transitional military authority may suspend ordinary courts if
  judges do not fulfill their duties, the courts are corrupt or unfairly constituted, or the administration of the
  local jurisdiction has collapsed. In such cases, the transitional military authority may establish its own
  courts.
  2-93. The penal laws of the occupied territory remain in force during the occupation. However, the
  transitional military authority may suspend these laws during an occupation if they constitute a threat to
  security or an obstacle to the application of the Geneva Conventions.
  2-94. During an occupation, the transitional military authority may enact special decrees and penal
  provisions essential for it to—
  * Fulfill its obligations under The Hague and Geneva Conventions.
  * Maintain orderly administration of the occupied territory.
  * Ensure the security of the occupying forces.
  2-95. Penal provisions enacted by the transitional military authority during an occupation may not be
  enforced until they are made public to the population of the occupied territory in the national language of
  that host nation. Such penal provisions may not be retroactive and the penalty must be proportionate to the
  offense. Courts may only apply those provisions of law that applied prior to the alleged offense and are in
  accordance with the general principles of law.
  2-96. The transitional military authority may establish courts to hear cases on alleged violations of the
  special decrees and penal provisions enacted by the transitional military authority. It may also establish
  courts and administrative boards for other certain purposes. These purposes might include considering the
  cases of detainees and reconsidering the refusals of requests by aliens to leave the occupied host nation.
  (For further information on courts, commissions, and military tribunals, see the Manual for Military
  Commissions.)
  2-97. During an occupation, the transitional military authority has certain requirements. It may not declare
  that the rights and actions of enemy nationals are extinguished, suspended, or unenforceable in a court of
  law. During an occupation, U.S. forces and the transitional military authority are not subject to local laws.
  Nor are they subject to the jurisdiction of the local civil or criminal courts of the occupied territory unless
  expressly agreed to by the transitional military authority or by the occupying power. Only U.S. military
  courts should try U.S. personnel subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (known as UCMJ).
  Promptly investigating, arbitrating, and settling local damage claims—to the extent permitted by U.S. law,
  regulation, and policy—can help to strengthen the credibility of the transitional military authority. (See
  AR 27-20 for regulatory guidance on claims.)
  INTERIM CIVIL AUTHORITY
  2-98. An interim civil authority is set up when the collapse of a government created a political void. An
  interim civil authority is also called a provisional or interim government. It can be formed by an outside
  nation or coalition of nations, local inhabitants or by an IGO, such as the United Nations.
  2-99. Sometimes local unelected individuals organize to govern their town or region after a war, or
  sometimes a government may reform itself with provisional status under a coalition following a crisis. In