More information about plans to revive military courts in Taiwan

Further information about emerging plans to amend the Military Trial Act and revive military courts in Taiwan can be found here. Excerpt:

“The government would also make major revisions to the part of the previous military court system that was widely criticized and inconsistent with the Constitution. Once reinstated, the military court should be a system allowing fair trials, protecting human rights with due processes and fulfilling the requirements in the constitution, while maintaining order and discipline in the military. Professionals in the military trial system should receive training and adjudicate independently,” [spokesperson Michelle] Lee said.

Asked about the difference in penalties that would be imposed on retired military personnel and those on active duty, Lee said that they would undergo different trial procedures, adding that judges would decide the types of criminal trials that a person should undergo based on facts.

Contradictions in rulings between the military and civilian courts could be avoided through investigation of evidence and the three levels of the court system, she said.

Finnish court convicts Russian national of war crimes committed in Ukraine

Translation of article appearing in Le Monde, 14 March 2025, by Anne-Françoise Hivert.

“The conviction of a Russian neo-Nazi in Finland for war crimes committed in Ukraine, a trial that could set a precedent : Vojislav Torden, leader of a paramilitary group, was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes committed in the separatist region of Donbass in September 2014.

“By Anne-Françoise Hivert (Malmö, Sweden), regional correspondent)

“His trial began in December 2024. On Friday, March 14, Vojislav Torden, born Ian Petrovski, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Helsinki District Court. Accused of being a leader of the neo-Nazi paramilitary group Rusich, the 38-year-old Russian was found guilty of four war crimes committed near Luhansk, in the Donbass province of eastern Ukraine, in 2014.

“In Kyiv, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office welcomed the court's decision, which "marks a key step in the fight against impunity for perpetrators of serious violations of international humanitarian law." Unsurprisingly, the Russian Embassy in Finland, for its part, denounced the "bias of the Helsinki court, which handed down a clearly politicized sentence against a Russian citizen."

“The acts alleged against Vojislav Torden took place on September 5, 2014, in the separatist region of Luhansk, where Ukrainian soldiers from the Aidar battalion were ambushed at a checkpoint by several pro-Russian paramilitary groups. Leading them to believe that they belonged to Ukrainian forces, the separatists allowed the convoy, made up of a truck and a car carrying 26 Ukrainian soldiers, to advance before opening fire. Twenty-two soldiers were killed and four wounded.

“Although the Helsinki court ruled that "the evidence did not establish with certainty that the Rusich group was solely responsible for the ambush," Torden was found guilty of the four other charges against him. Notably, he was convicted of executing a Ukrainian soldier who was wounded in the attack and authorizing the mutilation of another, who died from his injuries. His men had carved their group's symbol into his cheek.

Chief Judge of U.S. Court of Military Commission Review on the politicization of military justice

Col. (ret.) Lisa Schenck, who is Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, writes here in Stars and Stripes that "politicization of the military has a long history."

Our military and military justice system should not be used as a tool to score political points. Any changes to military policy going forward should be based on an educated, measured approach rather than hasty reactions to biased media coverage and false perceptions. Our service members deserve better.

An opening salvo in a Hegsethian effort to repeal the Gillibrand legislation? 

The floor is open. Real names only, please, for comments.

State military justice (Nevada)

Should Nevada restore National Guard personnel's right to turn down nonjudicial punishment and demand a court-martial? That's the question raised by a current legislative proposal. The Reno Gazette Journal has the story, in detail, here. 

How much do you think it would cost for Nevada to be capable of conducting a couple of courts-martial? (No peeking.)

Would you mind being more specific, colonel?

Lt Col Christopher T. Stein of the U.S. Air Force writes:

This is a defining moment for the military and the JAG Corps.

The secretary has thrown open the door for bold reform, and now it is up to us to walk through it. That means cutting the layers of bureaucratic micromanagement, eliminating unnecessary compliance tasks, returning nonlegal functions to their proper career fields, and rightsizing the force.

It means a refocusing on the law: Let the JAGs be lawyers again, anchored by constitutional principles, not adrift with shifting political winds. Our job is not to perpetuate the mistakes of the past but to ensure the military is ready to meet the challenges of the future. We can either cling to outdated structures or seize this opportunity to build a stronger, more effective legal force that is uncompromising in integrity and fearless in execution.

Comments are invited. Given the current volatile political situation, the usual rule against anonymous comments is hereby waived. Comments will, however, continue to be moderated.