Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations audit, complement and reinforce the oversight of armed forces. 6. Internal military mechanisms, such as military disciplinary law, codes of conduct and criminal law, provide the internal regulatory framework for ensuring that orders issued by civilian command authorities are executed from the top down. They also ensure that service personnel have clear standards and norms for fulfilling their duties. 7. Commanders play a crucial role in ensuring the discipline of those under their command, and have a responsibility to prevent, investigate and address disciplinary infractions or crimes committed by subordinates. 8. Controlling organs should respect human rights, the rule of law and democratic accountability, as well as international law. Domestic legislation and guidelines should not contradict international standards. Many constitutions outline in broad terms the mission of the armed forces as maintaining security and protecting territory and the constitutional order. In some cases, more specific tasks may be defined in the constitution. For example, Article 87(a) of the German Constitution makes particularly detailed reference to the tasks and powers of the armed forces, a feature resulting from German history. For the most part, however, such details are included in legislation. In rare cases, such as in the United Kingdom and France, the tasks of the armed forces are specified by the government. The level at which the tasks of the armed forces are specified will affect the ease with which their role can be changed and whether specific military deployments can be challenged on constitutional grounds. Constitutional reform may be difficult to effect and may promote a national debate on the state’s position within the international community. The principle of neutrality – whereby the state is prevented from joining international alliances or engaging in joint military action – may be explicit (see the example of Austria in Box 4.2). Some constitutions, such as those of Denmark and Ireland, do not place limitations on military activities but, instead apply a negative restriction, requiring parliamentary approval before the use of armed force against any foreign state. A prohibition on aggression may also be contained in the constitution. Reference is made to international obligations and international peacekeeping in the constitutions of Hungary and the Netherlands, respectively. 59