Veterans Day

With appreciation to Prof. Amos Guiora, here is a link to an unusually thought-provoking panel held yesterday at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney School of Law.

The MAG Affair (one in what looks like it will be a lengthy series)

The Washington Post has this status report on the ever-hotter MAG Affair in Israel. Shira Rubin and Lior Soroka write:

This public brawl is not over the facts of the case but rather a broader struggle between a growing segment of Israelis who contend that all their soldiers are heroes who should be immune to prosecution and those who call for the rule of law in cases of misconduct.

The case is exceptional in part because it is one of the rare instances during the Gaza war when the Israeli military has sought to hold its soldiers accountable for alleged atrocities. After Hamas carried out a massive attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel in response launched its devastating war in Gaza, soldiers have repeatedly posted online photos and videos of themselves carrying out acts that have been deemed by international organizations to be evidence of war crimes and violations of international law.

But human rights groups say that since the start of the war, with calls for revenge going mainstream in Israel, hundreds of incidents of unjustified killing or other violence against Palestinians have gone unpunished. Amid widespread accusations of prisoners being abused by Israeli soldiers, the IDF says it has launched only eight criminal investigations into alleged detainee mistreatment.

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[Eran] Shamir-Borer said that regardless of whether the military does not prosecute soldier misconduct aggressively enough — or if [Yifat] Tomer-Yerushalmi had acted unprofessionally — the fate of the Sde Teiman case will nonetheless have consequences for the character of Israel’s army and state. “Without a functioning, credible legal institution, Israel will be compromising its own values,” he said.

The political attacks on military justice also come at a time when other elements of the Israeli judicial systems have already been under fire, legal experts say. They point, for instance, to a vicious right-wing campaign against Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, partly on the grounds that she had allegedly colluded with Tomer-Yerushalmi, and against Supreme Court judges.

“There is no doubt it’s part of the broader campaign against law enforcement institutions,” said Mordechai Kremnitzer, professor emeritus of law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Mandatory pretrial detention?

The Federal Court of Malaysia has handed down a surprising decision in Maliki Halim v. Lt. Col. Shaifullizan Abd bin Aziz, Commanding Officer, No. 01(f)-30-09/2024(D) (Malaysia Nov. 10, 2025). According to this press account, the respondent was required by law to keep the appellant in close confinement for the 311 days he was imprisoned prior to trial by court-martial, as the charges were not being dealt with summarily.

Last year, the apex court agreed to grant Maliki leave based on one question of law – whether an accused can be remanded automatically under Section 96(3) of the Armed Forces Act 1972 without considering the remand procedures under the Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules of Procedure 1976 pending trial by a military court.

Maliki had tested positive for ketamine during a drug prevention operation conducted at the 5th Royal Ranger Regiment battalion at its Desa Pahlawan camp in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, in March 2014.

He pleaded not guilty in the military court but was subjected to strict detention, pursuant to which he was confined to a cell for 311 days until July 3, 2015.

Maliki filed a suit for wrongful detention, naming the 5th Royal Ranger Regiment battalion commander Shifullizan Abd Aziz, the 8th Infantry Brigade, the armed forces chief and the government as respondents.

The High Court in Kota Bharu ruled that Maliki’s detention was invalid as there were irregularities in the disciplinary proceedings against him. Maliki was awarded damages of RM300,000.

However, on Sept 14, 2023, the Court of Appeal overturned the judgment and ordered Maliki to pay the government RM40,000 in costs, giving rise to the present appeal to the Federal Court.

Aside from the merits, ten years seems a long time for the case to have been concluded.

The case is noted on the court's website but there is no link to the decision.

Bar association official says Palestinian military justice system needs fundamental reform

SadaNews reports here on a call for reform the Palestinian security forces' military justice system by Amjad Al-Shalla, Secretary General of the Palestinian Bar Association. Excerpt:

The main cornerstone for the stability of justice, its integrity and the application of the principle of transparency is the principle of independence, and therefore, the series of legal observations that we receive almost daily concerning the judicial organ of the Palestinian security forces can no longer be ignored, with all due respect.

Within the judicial body of the security forces, there are excellent judicial skills that are recognized and have decision-making power. On the other hand, to assert that decisions of the judicial bodies and/or the military public prosecutor's office must ultimately be submitted to the decision and authority of the president of the military judicial authority is an attack on and a destruction of all forms of independence, and it deprives the courts, bodies, and military public prosecutor's offices of their judicial character.

Attorney General v. Miyogo

The Court of Appeal of Kenya has ruled that it was improper to jail and discharge a 10-year member of the Defence Forces who refused for religious reasons to work on Saturdays. A summary of the decision can be found here; the judgment is not yet on the court's website.

The controversy began over 13 years ago.