Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Canadian Parliament is called to action to reform the National Defence Act

The French-Canadian weekly news magazine “L’Actualité” publishes a 2,000 word essay "La justice militaire sort gagnante" on the recent Moriarity decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, which declared as constitutional section 130 of the National Defence Act which incorporates the provisions contained in the Canadian criminal law corpus. 

 The article is written by laureate investigative reporter Noemi Mercier who spent a year in 2014 delving into the culture of sexual violence in the Canadian Forces and who attended the recent military law conference “Winds of Change” which took place under the auspices of the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa on November 13, 2015. 
Acknowledging that a majority of speakers, foreign and national, at the "Winds of Change" military law conference had called for reforms of the military justice system, she writes:

Translation
Original text

Despite the low level of confidence of victims and the chorus of voices critical of the lack of independence of the military justice system and despite the worldwide winds of changes to reform military tribunals they remain intact. As a result of the Supreme Court decision, these tribunals are growing stronger.

Malgré les voix qui s’élèvent pour critiquer le manque d’indépendance de ce système et le peu de confiance qu’il inspire aux victimes, et malgré le vent de réforme qui souffle sur la justice militaire dans le reste du monde, les tribunaux militaires canadiens demeurent intacts. Ils en ressortent même plus forts.
Canada is one of the last few countries in the industrialized world where a soldier accused of a crime can still be tried by a court martial. The only crimes which do not fall under the jurisdiction of military tribunals are murder, manslaughter and kidnaping of children which occur on Canadian soil.  Until 1998, sexual assaults could also only be tried by civilian courts; however, that year Parliament changed the National Defence Act to give military tribunals jurisdiction over these crimes.
Il faut savoir que le Canada est l’un des derniers endroits dans le monde industrialisé où les soldats accusés d’un crime peuvent encore être jugés en cour martiale. Les seuls crimes qui échappent encore au giron militaire sont les meurtres, les homicides involontaires et les enlèvements d’enfants perpétrés en sol canadien. Jusqu’en 1998, les accusations d’agressions sexuelles étaient elles aussi du domaine exclusif des tribunaux civils; mais cette année-là, le Parlement a modifié la Loi sur la défense nationale pour y ajouter cette catégorie de crimes.
According to Colonel-Maitre Michel Drapeau, the required urgent reforms to the Canadian military justice can only now happen if elected officials intervene to modernize the National Defence Act. “It is not up to the Supreme Court to lead such reforms. To change an existing law is the role of Parliament which must urgently lead efforts to modernize the National Defence Act to ensure that CF members be afforded the same rights as their fellow citizens.”
De telles réformes ne seront pensables au Canada que si les élus interviennent, selon l’avocat et colonel à la retraite Michel Drapeau, qui a représenté plusieurs militaires victimes d’agressions sexuelles. «Il n’appartient pas à la Cour suprême de réformer la loi, dit-il. C’est du seul ressort du législateur. Il est donc urgent que le Parlement s’affaire à moderniser cette loi pour s’assurer que les membres des Forces armées bénéficient des mêmes droits que les autres citoyens du Canada.»

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