Monday, December 30, 2019

As we wrap up 2019 . . .

Over at CAAFlog suspense is mounting as 2019's top 10 U.S. military justice stories are unveiled. But what would make the list globally (including stories from the United States)? Here are a dozen, but feel free to add your own (real names only for comments, please):
  • Development of the 2019 Yale Draft Principles for Military Summary Proceedings. The Yale Draft will be the subject of a panel discussion at the May 2020 conference of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War in Aix-en-Provence. Nonjudicial proceedings affect far more service members than courts-martial but have not been the subject of comparable scrutiny. Pascal Lévesque's book will contribute to the debate.
  • The use of the President's pardon power in several high-profile military cases became the subject of controversy.
  • The Gallagher case. Heavily covered, with important late-in-the-year reporting by Dave Philipps of The New York Times. Was the video that is now publicly available shown to the panel? Or the interview of the SEAL petty officer who testified that he, rather than Chief Gallagher, killed the victim?
  • A few countries continued to try civilians in courts-martial. Think: Algeria, Lebanon, Uganda, Egypt, Jordan, Cameroon. Suriname convicted its president, Desi Bouterse, in a military trial for long-ago murders.
  • Something that did not happen: Pakistan allowed the legislation under which its military courts could try civilians to lapse.
  • The military commissions at Guantánamo continued to inch to trial. There are, however, signs of life. Carol Rosenberg continues as dean of the Guantánamo Bay press corps.
  • The CBS television show "The Code" cratered.
  • Several states, including Massachusetts and Illinois, updated their state codes of military justice. These laws apply to  personnel of the National Guard and Air National Guard when not in federal status.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are subject to moderation and must be submitted under your real name. Anonymous comments will not be posted (even though the form seems to permit them).