Draft evasion figures in Israeli court decision

For years, the Haredi community has resisted efforts to conscript its members. The Israeli High Court of Justice has lost its patience, as reported here. Seventy-six thousand men have failed to report for mandatory duty.

What to wear?

Femi Falana, a senior advocate in Nigeria, has raised the question of whether robes must be worn by counsel in Nigeria's pending multi-accused general court-martial. Details here. Which governs -- the court's order or the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023?

Outrage Trails DHQ Secret Court-Martial As Military Officers Appear In Leg Chains, Battle Untreated Infections, Families Barred From Proceedings

 At Sahara Reporters, there is a piece with the title that I have used here.

The General Court Martial convened by Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja has sparked outrage following allegations of inhumane treatment of the detained military officers, denial of fair hearing, and total exclusion of family members from proceedings, SaharaReporters has learned.

No fewer than 36 officers who are currently standing trial over alleged coup-related offences were brought before the court in leg chains, with several of them displaying visible signs of physical abuse, including untreated infections and deteriorating health conditions, SaharaReporters further gathered. . . .

[T]he court martial was convened by Major General AM Alechenu, Commander of the Defence Headquarters Garrison, under the Armed Forces Act.

The panel is chaired by Air Vice Marshal HI Alhaji, alongside senior military officers drawn from the Nigerian Army, Navy, and Air Force.

War Crimes Prosecution of the Century: Australian Accountability

This terrific essay by two experienced  and thoughtful Army judge advocates outlines the myriad issues involved in what truly may be the war crimes prosecution of the century -- not only for Australia, but for the world. While the erudite lawyers' essay focuses on evidentiary and other trial-related challenges in Australia's prosecution of Ben Roberts-Smith, it appropriately brings to fore the the political, social and cultural obstacles to trying Australia's most decorated living military veteran for multiple counts of murder on the battlefield.

Such dynamics are present in many if not most war crimes trials, and they are on steroids here given that Roberts-Smith is a national war hero who had been awarded the nation's highest military honor.  If the U.S. military community thought Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's court-martial for alleged war crimes several years ago was a made-for-TV show, fraught with political baggage -- tune in to what's happening on the other side of the world in this Aussie prosecution. 

Interestingly while Australia does the hard and required thing to comply with its legal obligations to ensure fair accountability for alleged war crimes, Israel recently witnessed seemingly the exact opposite with its shameful handling of the criminal case against IDF soldiers for their "alleged" (captured on video, hence the quotation marks) brutalization of Palestinian detainees during the Gaza War. For more on that episode of a severe lack of accountability for war crimes and the immense political and social pressure that led to such impunity, see this piece by two leading experts in the field. 

Moral legitimacy is hard to come by, and Australia sure seems to be working on building its own while other nations -- including the U.S., given its military serial murder campaign (crimes against humanity) in the Caribbean and threatened war crimes in Iran -- sadly move in the opposite direction.

Not military justice, but . . .

Prof. Michael Schmitt has posted this extraordinary (and extraordinarily timely) essay on Just Security, titled A Primer on Just War Theory and the Iran War. Read the whole thing; here are his Concluding Reflections:

While States must be guided by extant international law when considering whether and how to use force, its rules set only the legal boundaries that they may not cross, whether through action or omission. The decisions our leaders make must equally be informed by moral considerations, which seem in short supply in the ongoing conflicts. Just war doctrine helps calibrate the moral compass that should inform such decisions and serves as a useful framework for balancing military and humanitarian considerations when interpreting international law rules that may not offer clear guidance in the attendant circumstances. Despite the Vice President’s pontification on the matter, I will stick with the views of the Pontiff on the interpretation of the doctrine.

As to the broader dispute between the Trump administration and the Holy See, it is worth remembering that Popes have been instrumental in advancing positive political change. The obvious example is Pope John Paul II, who, by championing human rights, self-determination, and religious freedom, played a pivotal role in undermining autocratic communist regimes and fostering democracy in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and beyond. Pope Leo is following in this proud tradition in speaking out on issues of war and peace.

Lastly, with regard to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran, David Brooks insightfully observed on the PBS NewsHour Friday that we are seeing a “contrast between the way Trump has gone into this war, which is cavalier in the extreme, and Catholic just war theory, which traces back to Augustine and Aquinas, [and] which is intellectually rigorous.” This leads him to conclude, rightly so in my opinion, that the Pope is “trying to put [in place] an intellectual, rigorous process on how you evaluate a very deadly policy. And the Trump administration is completely incapable of thinking in these terms.”

It seems appropriate to close this essay on the Trump administration and the Catholic Church with an extract from the Catechism itself (¶ 2317):

Injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and nations constantly threaten peace and cause wars. Everything done to overcome these disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding war.

You don’t need to be Catholic to grasp the wisdom of the observation.