Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Court Martial in New Zealand prompts political comment

I prosecuted a naval commander this week for indecent assault. (News account here.) The Court Martial convicted him and sentenced him to dismissal from Her Majesty's Service.  Interestingly, the case has provoked political comment from the leader of one of the Government's minority support partners about whether the Court Martial system is appropriate in peacetime.  In view of my involvement in the case, I will offer no comment on that, save to note that the Court Martial system was thoroughly overhauled by Parliament in 2007 under the Armed Forces Law Reform Bill.  That Bill was passed with the unanimous support of all MPs in the House, including the party leader who is now questioning the validity of the system.

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