New study on the legal frameworks of civilian internment
A newly published peer reviewed article by Dr. Dina Gusejnova (LSE) and Dr. Kim Wünschmann examines the emergence of tribunals as a system for legalising the internment of “enemy aliens” in Britain and the United States during the Second World War. Reconstructing how these institutions classified and reclassified civilians, it uncovers the moral uncertainties, legal frameworks, and bureaucratic dynamics that shaped the internment practices of democratic states.
By synthesising historical records, juristic analyses, and personal narratives, the study elucidates how the tribunal systems navigated the complexities of intelligence assessments and public opinion dynamics. Furthermore, the comparison between British and American tribunal systems unveils both convergences and divergences in legal approaches and administrative practices.
Current developments underline the importance of historical research on the “enemy alien” phenomenon. The history of the “enemy alien” tribunals sheds light on the long-term attitudes towards immigration and foreign influence in Anglophone societies. Debates on belonging, citizenship, and civil liberties within democratic societies often spanned a longer time period, reaching from the anti-immigration legislation of the 1900s to the globalisation of internment in the First World War, before culminating in the emergency measures of the Second World War. Considered within broader historical contexts, the tribunal system sheds light on the way legal frameworks both shaped and were shaped by wartime exigencies.
Gusejnova and Wünschmann’s article “A paralegal institution: tribunals and the place of law in the framework of internment during the Second World War” for Immigrants & Minorities is now available in open access format here.
Image: US Department of Justice Notice, 1942. Public Domain www.docsteach.org/documents/document/notice-to-aliens-of-enemy-nationalities