Leniency questioned in New Zealand

Stuff reporter Kirsty Lawrence has reviewed outcomes in years' worth of New Zealand military cases and concludes here that the country's military defendants get off light. She writes:

Nearly two dozen military personnel have faced charges of indecent assault and rape in the past two decades, newly released documents reveal. 

And while the majority of them were eventually found guilty, hardly any saw the inside of a prison cell, and none of their crimes ended up on their civilian criminal records.

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Since 1991, there have been 144 court martials [ouch] held in New Zealand. 

Information released under the Official Information Act showed that of those, 22 had charges that could be transferred to a civilian court. 

These included indecent assault, common assault and unlawful sexual connection, among a variety of other charges. 

Punishments and findings varied, with one indecent assault charge in 1996 finding the offender not guilty as they were "sleep-walking" at the time of the incident.

Many sentences were also quashed on appeal. Reduction in rank appeared to be the most common punishment.

The handful of comments are worth reading.
The author of this story is naive and has cherry-picked a few specific cases to try and paint the picture of an issue where there isn't one. The NZDF justice system can be absolutely brutal in punishing the most mundane of offences, many based on historical traditions more than any real world equivalent. Most of these offences are specific to the NZDF and would make the average person laugh due to the ridiculousness and wastefulness of it all.The author of this story is naive and has cherry-picked a few specific cases to try and paint the picture of an issue where there isn't one. The NZDF justice system can be absolutely brutal in punishing the most mundane of offences, many based on historical traditions more than any real world equivalent. Most of these offences are specific to the NZDF and would make the average person laugh due to the ridiculousness and wastefulness of it all.The author of this story is naive and has cherry-picked a few specific cases to try and paint the picture of an issue where there isn't one. The NZDF justice system can be absolutely brutal in punishing the most mundane of offences, many based on historical traditions more than any real world equivalent. Most of these offences are specific to the NZDF and would make the average person laugh due to the ridiculousness and wastefulness of it all.