A team from the Defense Security Cooperation University’s Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS) recently traveled to El Salvador to meet with members of their military as part of an ongoing Security Cooperation effort. 

DIILS is the primary Department of Defense (DOD) implementer of Legal Institutional Capacity Building (ICB) activities. DIILS Legal ICB programs collaborate with partner security organizations around the world to foster enduring institutional changes which integrate legal considerations into their operations, optimizing the effective use of security capabilities. DIILS facilitates Partner Nation development of enduring institutional structures, policies, and processes that are necessary to sustain or manage important security capabilities through advisory and consulting services.

DIILS Legal ICB activities typically address matters relating to international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL), often focusing on topics in the following areas: Civilian Harm Mitigation and response; Cyber, Space and Emergent Technology; Human Rights;  Law of Armed Conflict; Maritime Security and Domain Awareness; Women, Peace and Security. DOD ICB activities are executed using various modes of engagement, including facilitated discussion and tabletop exercises, which are designed to achieve shared program objectives that can be monitored and evaluated.  

For more than 30 years, DIILS, located in Newport, Rhode Island, has been the lead DOD security cooperation resource for global legal engagement with partner nation security sector institutions and personnel.  As a component of DSCU, DIILS’ mission is to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by building the institutional capacity of partner nation security forces in a collaborative manner to best to respond to shared security challenges in a responsible, accountable, and legally compliant manner.