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| Royal Courts of Justice |
Details of Mr Deacon's complaints may be found here. In a nutshell, he was convicted during summary proceedings before his commanding officer for scratching a door whilst drunk. When he left the service he discovered he had been convicted of criminal damage and had a criminal record. He appealed out of time but had his appeal dismissed due to the delay. It appears to be that decision to dismiss which has now been quashed.
Summary dealing is not 'Article 6 compliant' so to maintain the position of the commanding officer at the heart of military justice and keep within the ECHR there is an automatic right in the UK to appeal to the Court Martial.
Mr Deacon will now have his case re-heard by the Court Martial and doubtless there will be press coverage and quite possibly a further appeal. This has the potential to precipitate further change in the UK Service Justice System.
It is simply not good enough to go through a full criminal process with both accused and the Officer hearing the charge believing the Summary Hearing to be purely a disciplinary charge.
ReplyDeleteIf Service Personnel are accused of a criminal offence, (and a potential criminal record) it should not be heard at a Summary Hearing but in a fair court with safeguards.
Summary Hearings are part of a bygone era where the accused is not permitted a lawyer, the Officer hearing the charge usually has no knowledge of the law and criminal process, and mistakes are commonplace.
My appeal before the Judge Advocate General was a joke. I was not permitted to see any evidence against me, and even the thoughts and opinions of my OC who herd the original case are withheld and redacted. http://bit.ly/1CE34o2
This isn't open accountable transparent justice. This is a bunch of out of touch former Officers delivering 3rd rate justice as it was in the past.
Time to move on!!!
It is simply not good enough to go through a full criminal process with both accused and the Officer hearing the charge believing the Summary Hearing to be purely a disciplinary charge.
ReplyDeleteIf Service Personnel are accused of a criminal offence, (and a potential criminal record) it should not be heard at a Summary Hearing but in a fair court with safeguards.
Summary Hearings are part of a bygone era where the accused is not permitted a lawyer, the Officer hearing the charge usually has no knowledge of the law and criminal process, and mistakes are commonplace.
My appeal before the Judge Advocate General was a joke. I was not permitted to see any evidence against me, and even the thoughts and opinions of my OC who herd the original case are withheld and redacted. http://bit.ly/1CE34o2
This isn't open accountable transparent justice. This is a bunch of out of touch former Officers delivering 3rd rate justice as it was in the past.
Time to move on!!!