Transparency watch, prosecution standards in Australia

Brig. Jennifer Woodward
Director of Military Prosecutions

BuzzFeed News reports here on a dispute over media access to the names of Australian military who have been charged with serious criminal offenses. Excerpt:

More than 150 Australian defence personnel have been charged with serious criminal offences in military courts and tribunals over a four-year period, BuzzFeed News can reveal. But the nation's defence department wants to keep their identities secret.

Documents obtained under Australia's freedom of information laws reveal that since September 2014 the Directorate of Military Prosecution brought charges against 152 defence personnel across Australia’s army, navy and air force.

But while in an ordinary Australian court the names of the alleged offenders would generally be publicly accessible, the defence department's registrar of military justice, group captain Nina Harvey, has sought to suppress all of their identities.

Also of interest: the 2016 report of the Director of Military Prosecutions. Annex A reproduces the DMP's prosecution policy.