The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy describes the term martial law as that law of public order, once the state of war is manifested; or on the other hand, the side or law of a military and criminal nature that are adapted in said situation of a state of war. In other words, martial law can be defined as the system of statutes or norms that is carried out after a formal declaration, when a certain situation requests that a military supremacy acquire the normal management or domain of justice in a general or of a total state.
In other words, authority or power is granted to the police or military body regarding the administration, management or guardianship of the care of public order and the maintenance of justice; therefore it is assumed that martial law prevails in the case of being necessary to support the practices of organizations and military authorities. Said event can occur when there are needs with the denomination of "urgent", in those where the common justice institutions are not in correct operation or whose institutions are evaluated as weak or slow in order to cope with the control of the new situation; As an example of this we can mention civil wars, then the main object would be to restore or preserve thepublic order.
Martial law encompasses the limitation or suppression of certain rights that the ordinance guarantees to people, annexing the application of summary procedures in trials and severe penalties of greater weight than those that are superimposed in situations classified as normal. In most cases, the death penalty is imposed for crimes that would not generally be attributed as capital crimes, such as robbery or looting in times of disaster.
