The Beaudry Case

Osgoode Hall Law School's The Court.ca blog has this report by Jesse Beatson on the Beaudry case, which is to be argued on March 26 at the Supreme Court of Canada. The case presents the question whether the trial of civilian criminal offenses by court-martial impermissibly trenches on the right to trial by jury. The author concludes:

Rather than simply uphold the CMAC’s decision, the SCC could perhaps mandate that courts-martial provide the option of a jury. This jury could be composed of peers in the military, or civilians, or both. This would be a structural innovation that would make Canada an international leader. While addressing the Charter problem, this “solution” would not address other fundamental issues. Arguably, military tribunals are encroaching on the constitutionally valid jurisdiction of superior courts. Besides a division of powers argument, courts-martial prosecutors may lack the independence needed to give victims of sexual assault enough confidence to come forward. A more desirable solution is to remove the jurisdiction to prosecute serious civilian crimes from the NDA [National Defence Act] and return it back to provincial courts, ending the largely failed experiment that began in 1998.

The Latin motto of the CMAC, Nulli Negabimus Justitiam, translates to “we will deny justice to no one.” The CMAC’s landmark Beaudry ruling breathes fresh life into these dusty Latin words. The ball is now in the SCC’s “court.” Soldiers, sailors, and aircrew will soon, one hopes, be able to access a jury trial for allegations of serious crimes as a constitutional right, but what the future of military justice will look like beyond this is still an open question.

(Footnote omitted.)