Military aid to the civil power

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Aid to the Civil Power (ACP) or Military Aid to the Civil Power (MACP) is the use of the armed forces in support of the civil authorities of a state. Different countries have varying policies regarding the relationship between their military and civil authorities.

Australia

Under certain circumstances, the Australian Defence Force can be called upon to assist with law enforcement. State or territory civilian police have primary responsibility for law and order. Under section 119 of the Constitution of Australia, "The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion and, on the application of the Executive Government of the State, against domestic violence." This is further explained in section 51 of the Defence Act which states that:

Where the Governor of a State has proclaimed that domestic violence exists therein, the Governor-General, upon the application of the Executive Government of the State, may, by proclamation, declare that domestic violence exists in that State, and may call out the Permanent Forces and in the event of their numbers being insufficient may also call out such of the Emergency Forces and the Reserve Forces as may be necessary for the protection of that State, and the services of the Forces so called out may be utilised accordingly for the protection of that State against domestic violence.

Military forces have been deployed twice on the request of state or territory governments, and deployment authorised on one other occasion but not required:

• September 1970: The governor-general signed an order-in-council authorising the deployment of the army to East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea, then a territory of Australia, to assist local police with riot control if necessary. The army was not required and the order was revoked in April 1971.
• February 1978: Following the
  Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting and to protect the road and rail links between Sydney and the Southern Highlands
  .
• March 2002: 2,400 military personnel were deployed to protect the
  September 11 terrorist attacks
  .

• April 1983:
  government of Tasmania which was preparing to dam the Gordon River in contravention of federal law. The evidence from the reconnaissance flights was used to gain an injunction from the High Court of Australia
  against the work.
• September 1989: Soldiers were deployed to Joint Defense Facility Nurrungar during a large political demonstration in which 300 protesters broke through the perimeter fence.
• August 2001: The Special Air Service Regiment was used during the Tampa affair.

In addition, unarmed troops and defence force equipment have been used in industrial disputes, such as the 1949 Australian coal strike and the 1989 Australian pilots' dispute, under the "safeguarding of its interests" provisions.

Austria

The

Deployments to support Law enforcement in Austria:

• in September 1990, after the end of the Cold War period, the Iron Curtain was demolished, but Austria had no border guard, so the military was ordered to guard the border lines. It was planned to end this deployment after 10 weeks, but it lasted until December 2011.
• in September 2013 military had to support the federal police during the Annaberg shooting, where three police officers and paramedic were murdered by a poacher.
• in September 2015 due to the European migrant crisis the Austrian military was deployed to the borders again. This deployment is still ongoing (in 2023)
• since August 2016 the military is guarding
  diplomatic missions and vulnerable institutions in Vienna^[1]
• in May 2020 soldiers and reservists started to support law enforcement during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. This deployment lasted until 2022.

Deployments to support civil authorities:

• in general, Austrian military is deployed in case of weather or environmental disasters
• in May 2020 soldiers and reservists started to support civil authorities and health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria. This deployment lasted until 2022.

Canada

Canada has provisions, similar to the UK's military aid to the civil authorities, for military aid to the civil power inscribed in its National Defence Act, an historical inheritance from its days as a British dominion. However, the application is significantly different due to the federal nature of Canada, where the maintenance of "law and order" is the exclusive right and responsibility of the provinces.

The political authority empowered to requisition armed military "aid to the civil power" is therefore the solicitor general of the affected province in accordance with the National Defence Act, rather than the War Measures Act or its subsequent replacement, the Emergencies Act. This requisition is forwarded directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff (not to the federal government of Canada) who is obligated by law to execute the request. However, the Chief of the Defence Staff alone can determine the nature and level of forces to be committed.

The requesting province may subsequently be billed to pay the cost of the military aid, although the federal government most often waives it. One exception in recent years resulted from Toronto mayor Mel Lastman's request for military assistance following a snow storm in 1999, where at least 438 troops were deployed ^[2] after the Ontario government acceded; this deployment was deemed by the Canadian government to be a trivialization of the military's emergency response role and the requesting authority was billed accordingly.

While the military is legally free to decide how to deal with an issue in regard to which it has been called out, in practice it works under the direction of the police forces or government of the province that has requested its aid. Such requests are made relatively often for specialized resources such as armoured vehicles (e.g. hostage situations) and technical capabilities not possessed by police forces.

They are also called out in the case of police strikes in those provinces that have unionised provincial police forces. Quebec has not hesitated to call on the Army for such help ^{[citation needed]} because the Army is the only other agency with French-speaking units able to replace striking police; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has few reserves able to provide a "surge" capability, and its French-speaking capability is limited.

Significant use of the

• the
  October crisis
  of 1970
• the
  Oka crisis
  of 1990

As well, the Canadian Armed Forces have been called in to deal with labour crises, such as cavalry troops shipped to Edmonton to deal with an expected unemployed riot in 1931^[3] and armoured cars to use strikers at Stratford in 1934. As well, in 1837 prior to Confederation, British troops were used to put down domestic rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada, and in the early years of existence as a federation, the Canadian Militia was mobilized for First Nation and Métis insurrections in its "territories", 1869 and 1885 (the first and second Riel Rebellions).

The federal government can and does use the military in aid of its own responsibilities, such as guarding federal buildings and facilities. Since 1993, the Canadian Armed Forces have also provided the country's federal counter-terrorism forces, replacing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in that function.^[