Court Martial Comprehensive Review – Interim Report – 21 July 2017
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations and Frequent References
1.1............. Background
1.2............. Scope of the Comprehensive Review
1.3............. Composition of the Court Martial Comprehensive Review Team (CMCRT)
1.4............. Definitions and Terminology
1.5............. Assumptions
1.6............. Method for the Comprehensive Review
1.7............. Conclusion
Chapter 2 – Historical Background and Overview of the Court Martial System
2.1............. Introduction
2.2............. History of the Court Martial System: Origins up to 1950
2.3............. History of the Court Martial System: 1950-1999
2.4............. History of the Court Martial System: 1999 up to the Present
2.5............. Overview of the Current Court Martial System
2.5.1.......... Jurisdiction – People
2.5.2.......... Offences
2.5.3.......... Punishments and Sentences
2.5.4.......... Judges
2.5.5.......... Panels
2.5.6.......... Prosecutions
2.5.7.......... Defence Counsel Services
2.5.8.......... Evidence
2.5.9.......... Appeals
2.5.10........ Specially-Affected Groups or Individuals with Special Needs
Chapter 3 – Past Studies and Critical Perspectives of the Court Martial System
3.1............. Introduction
3.2............. External, Objective, and Independent Reviews: 1997-2015
3.2.1.......... Defence Counsel Services Study, 1997
3.2.2.......... The Lamer Report, 2003
3.2.3.......... Bronson Report (DMP)
3.2.4.......... Bronson Report – Defence Counsel Services
3.2.5.......... “Equal Justice” – Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Report, 2009
3.2.6.......... The LeSage Report, 2011
3.2.7.......... The Deschamps Report, 2015
3.3............. Internal and Subjective Reviews: 2001-2012
3.3.1.......... Military Justice Interview Survey, 2001
3.3.2.......... Military Justice Interview Survey of Stakeholders, 2002
3.3.3.......... Military Justice Interview Survey of Stakeholders, 2007
3.3.4.......... Military Justice Stakeholder Interviews, 2010
3.3.5.......... Military Justice Stakeholder Interviews, 2012
3.3.6.......... Summary Trial Working Groups I and II, 2016
3.4............. Canadian Academic and Media Commentary
3.4.1.......... Journal Articles
3.4.2.......... Books
3.4.3.......... Popular Media
3.5............. International Law Discourse Relevant to Canada’s Court Martial System
3.5.1.......... The DeCaux Draft Principles
3.5.2.......... The Knaul Report
3.5.3.......... OHCHR Expert Consultation
4.1............. Introduction
4.2............. Liaison with the Department of Justice
4.3............. Public Consultation
4.3.1.......... Public Consultation – Summary of Results
4.4............. Targeted Consultations
4.4.1.......... Submission from the Federal Ombudsman For Victims of Crime
4.4.2.......... Submission from the Canadian Bar Association – Military Law Section
4.4.3.......... The Sexual Misconduct Response Centre
4.4.4.......... It’s Just 700
4.4.5.......... Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Perron, former Military Judge
4.4.6.......... Lieutenant-Commander (Retired) Levesque, Ph.D. (Military Law)
4.4.7.......... President of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War
4.5............. Internal Consultations
4.5.1.......... CAF Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct
4.5.2.......... Chain of Command Consultation – Introduction
4.5.3.......... Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (Regular and Reserve Force)
4.5.4.......... Canadian Army
4.5.4.1....... 2nd Canadian Division
4.5.4.2....... 4th Canadian Division
4.5.4.3....... 5th Canadian Division - Division Chief Warrant Officer (Regular Force)
4.5.5.......... Royal Canadian Navy
4.5.5.1....... Maritime Forces Pacific (Regular and Reserve Force)
4.5.5.2....... The Crew of HMCS OTTAWA (Regular Force)
4.5.6.......... Royal Canadian Air Force
4.5.7.......... Chief of Military Personnel
4.5.7.1....... Commander, 1 Health Service Group (Regular Force)
4.5.8.......... The Director of Defence Counsel Services
4.5.9.......... The Director of Military Prosecutions
4.6............. Key Observations from Consultation
4.7............. Conclusion
5.1............. Introduction
5.2............. Technical Visit Country Reports – Foreign Court Martial Systems
5.2.1.......... The United States
5.2.2.......... Australia
5.2.3.......... New Zealand
5.2.4.......... Ireland
5.2.5.......... United Kingdom
5.2.6.......... Norway
5.2.7.......... Denmark
5.2.8.......... Finland
5.2.9.......... France
5.2.10........ The Netherlands
5.2.11........ Ancillary visits – Israel and Singapore
5.3............. International Comparative Study – Summary of Lessons
Chapter 6 – The Theoretical Basis for a Court Martial System
6.1............. Introduction
6.2............. The Purpose of Canada’s Military Justice System
6.2.1.......... The Purpose of a Summary Discipline System
6.2.2.......... The Dual Purposes of the Court Martial System
6.2.3.......... The Public Order and Welfare Purpose of the Court Martial System
6.2.4.......... The Disciplinary Purpose of the Court Martial System
6.3............. Developing a Purpose-Driven, Principled Basis for the Court Martial System
6.3.1.......... 1st Level – Principles Needed to Achieve the Court Martial System’s Purpose
6.3.2.......... 2nd Level – Features within the Court Martial System to Support Key Principles
Chapter 7 – Assessment of the Current System
7.1.1.......... Important Note on ‘System’ Assessment
7.1.2.......... Sources of Information Relied Upon
7.2............. Overview: Assessment of the Current Court Martial System
7.3............. Individual Subject Area Assessments of the Current Court Martial System
7.3.1.......... Status and Institutional Structure of Tribunals
7.3.2.......... The Status and Institutional Structure of the Prosecution Service
7.3.3.......... Provision of Defence Counsel Services
7.3.4.......... The Substantive Body of Service Offences
7.3.5.......... Punishments, Sanctions, and Sentencing
7.3.6.......... The Laws of Evidence
7.3.7.......... The Rights, Grounds, and Mechanisms of Appeal
7.3.8.......... The Special Needs of any Particular Groups, Including Victims, Young Persons, and Aboriginal Offenders
7.3.8.1....... Victims / Survivors
7.3.8.2....... Young Persons
7.3.8.3....... Aboriginal Persons
7.3.9.......... Overall Assessment
Chapter 8 – Introduction to Option Description and Analysis
Chapter 9 –Status and Institutional Structure of Tribunals (Courts)
9.1............. Introduction
9.2............. Overarching Considerations Relating to Tribunals / Courts
9.2.1.......... Permanent or ad hoc
9.2.2.......... Military or Civilian Judges
9.2.3.......... Court Reporters: Military Personnel or Contracted Civilian Service Providers
9.2.4.......... Judicial Training Opportunities
9.3............. Option 1: Military-only – Permanent military court composed of military judges
9.3.1.......... Assessment of Option 1
9.4.1.......... Assessment of Option 2
Chapter 10 – Status and Institutional Structure of Tribunals (Panels)
10.1........... Introduction
10.2........... Option 1 – Lay Members of a Judicial Panel inside and outside of Canada
10.2.1........ Assessment of Option 1
10.3........... Option 2 – Jury Trials inside of Canada and judge-alone trials outside of Canada
10.3.1........ Assessment of Option 2
Chapter 11 – Status and Institutional Structure of a Prosecution Service
11.1........... Introduction
11.2........... Common Elements of Options 1 and 2
11.3........... Option 1: Military Model – Military officer as Director of Military Prosecutions and Military prosecutors
11.3.1........ Assessment of Option 1
11.4.1........ Assessment of Option 2
11.5.1........ Assessment of Option 3
Chapter 12 - Status and Institutional Structure of a Defence Counsel Service
12.1........... Introduction
12.2........... Overarching Considerations Relating to Defence Counsel Services
12.2.1........ Contribution by Accused Persons
12.2.2........ Tariffs Governing the Extent of Legal Services to be Provided
12.2.3........ Regionalization
12.3........... Common Elements to Options 1 and 2
12.4........... Option 1: Military Model – Military officer as Director of Defence Counsel services and Military defence lawyers
12.4.1........ Assessment of Option 1
12.5.1........ Assessment of Option 2
12.6.1........ Assessment of Option 3
Chapter 13 – Options: Offences
13.1........... Introduction
13.2........... Option 1: Jurisdiction in Canada over uniquely military offences, and civilian offences only where there is a clear military nexus and with civilian prosecutor’s consent; jurisdiction outside of Canada over all offences
13.2.1........ Assessment of Option 1
13.3.1........ Assessment of Option 2
13.4.1........ Assessment of Option 3
Chapter 14 – Punishments, Sanctions and Sentencing laws
14.1........... Introduction
14.2........... Option 1: Abolition of leadership-related punishments
14.2.1........ Assessment of Option 1
14.3.1........ Assessment of Option 2
Chapter 15 – The Laws of Evidence
15.1........... Introduction
15.2........... Option 1: Update the Military Rules of Evidence
15.2.1........ Assessment of Option 1
15.3........... Option 2: Abolish the MRE and Use Statutory Amendments to Address Specialized Issues
15.3.1........ Assessment of Option 2
16.1........... Introduction
16.2........... Option 1: Incremental change – Minor changes to existing court and appeal structures
16.2.1........ Assessment of Option 1
16.3.1........ Assessment of Option 2
Chapter 17 – Vulnerable Groups
17.1........... Introduction
17.2........... Victims’ rights and services comparable to the civilian system
17.3........... Enact sentencing consideration for aboriginal offenders equivalent to that in the Criminal Code
17.4........... For ordinary civilian offences, young persons should be dealt with by civilian courts, under the Youth Criminal Justice Act
Page details
- Date modified: