Sexual assault in the Irish Defence Forces

Watch for new Irish legislation concerning overseas sexual assaults in the Defence Forces. Details here.

There are situations in overseas deployments where military police will continue to deal with allegations of sexual assault in the Defence Forces as An Garda Síochána does not have the jurisdiction to do so, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.

Mr Martin, who is also the Minister for Defence, said legislation will be amended to provide a legislative basis to enable any type of allegations of sexual assault in the Defence Forces in the State to be referred to An Garda Síochána.

The Report of the Independent Review Group on Dignity and Equality issues in the Defence Forces was issued on March 28, 2023.

For your bookshelf

Richard Kammen has written a novel (or is it?) based on his service as a military commissions defense counsel at Guantánamo. Here's an NPR interview about Tortured Justice Guantánamo Bay.

Tunisia slow-rolls on misuse of military courts

Middle East Monitor reports here that Tunisian authorities are dragging their feet in response to international demands that the country stop trying civilians in military courts. "Authorities in Tunisia postponed responding to 12 recommendations concerning the trial of civilians before military courts, but accepted 17 related to supporting judicial independence, establishing the Constitutional Court, enacting the protection of judges and supporting legal aid."

Another civilian convicted by court-martial in Pakistan

Dawn, the leading Pakistani newspaper, has this disturbing story of another civilian convicted by a Pakistani court-martial. Did we mention that the civilian's father is a retired Major General?

U.S. Group of the ISMLLW

No more excuses: here's how to become a member of the U.S. Group of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War.

Maj Gen Dunlap on the mandatory vaccination imbroglio

Over at Lawfire you'll find an informative and thought-provoking piece by Professor and Major General (ret) Charles J. Dunlap Jr. -- well worth reading.

"What could Congress’ repeal of the military vaccine mandate mean for morale and discipline in the armed forces?  Should those who were separated for failing to obey vaccine orders be reinstated?  These and related matters were raised by reporters recently, so this post aims to give you a perspective as you decide what you think the answers should be."

Town Hall 25 (Reprimands and Military Justice)

Please join us for Town Hall 25, Tuesday, April 4, 9:00 a.m., East Coast time.

Town Hall 25 (Reprimands and Military Justice)

Tuesday, April 4⋅9:00 – 10:00am

Join Zoom Meeting

Location:

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Description:Global Military Justice Reform invites you to a scheduled Zoom Town Hall.

Join Zoom Meeting
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Background reading: United States v. McAlhaney (C.A.A.F. Mar. 24, 2023): https://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf/opinions/2022OctTerm/220170.pdf

event

Organizer: Eugene R. Fidell

Eugene R. Fidell

Uncle Sam wants you -- for what looks like a really interesting job

Staff Director, Military Justice Support Group, Supervisory GS-15

The incumbent for this position serves as the Staff Director, Military Justice Support Group, Defense Legal Services Agency and leads a team of professionals supporting the high-visibility, high-priority work of the Military Justice Review Panel (MJRP) and the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces (DAC-IPAD), which include renowned members of the bench and bar, as well as leading subject matter experts in such fields as criminology and forensics.  The incumbent also performs other duties as assigned by the DoD General Counsel. 

The incumbent must be able to exercise significant initiative in accomplishing the position’s assigned missions.  The incumbent leads a professional staff of attorneys, paralegals, and data analysts- coaching, mentoring, and supervising them as they conduct research concerning case law, statutes, regulations, policy documents, congressional documents, secondary sources, and data reports related to military and civilian criminal law and criminal investigations.  This work includes comparative analyses of military, federal civilian, state, and foreign criminal justice and investigation systems in support of the MJRP and DAC-IPAD.   The incumbent ensures that the supported organizations comply with all applicable laws, rules, and procedures governing advisory committees and is responsible for ensuring the production of timely, high-quality written reports and correspondence. 

The incumbent must be an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State, the District of Columbia, or a Territory, Commonwealth, or Possession of the United States.  The incumbent performs a full range of supervisory responsibilities.  This position is not suitable for remote work.

The incumbent should be a proven leader adept at running a high-tempo organization. The incumbent should be well-versed in military justice and must be fully committed to promoting and respecting equal employment opportunity and diversity in the workplace. The incumbent must have superior interpersonal skills.

The incumbent reports to the Deputy General Counsel for Personnel and Health Policy and, through the Deputy General Counsel and the Principal Deputy General Counsel, to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.

We are accepting resumes until April 6, 2023. 

To apply, please email resume to osd.pentagon.ogc.mbx.dodogcresumebank@mail.mil.  The subject line should state “Resume File: [APPLICANT’S LAST NAME, FIRST NAME].”  Please also reference this position in the body of your email.

Military Law (A View from the North)

Dr. Ken Rogers moderates a TechTech Hawaii comparative law discussion with Rory Fowler and Gene Fidell, available here.

Town Hall, anyone?

The Editor has been lobbied about resuming Global Military Justice Reform's Town Hall. Sounds like a good idea. Please send any suggestions for topics.

Major Navdeep Singh on Indian military justice reform

Major Navdeep Singh

Longtime Global Military Justice Reform contributor Major Navdeep Singh presented the following remarks at a panel on military justice in the course of the recent 23rd Commonwealth Law Conference, held in Goa:

The militaries of most nations have in place a separate justice system for the women and men serving in uniform. The need for a separate system emanates from various factors such as ensuring discipline--the bedrock of any military, the peculiarities of military offences, and the non-accessibility with the requisite immediacy, at times, of the regular criminal justice system due to deployment on active service. The challenges and needs of most democracies in this field are similar, but the trajectories have been varied. 

The Indian military justice system

• Borrowed from the British. First provisions were made for the East India Company in 1754 followed by the Articles of War. Many sporadic developments followed later, finally culminating in the Indian Army Act, 1911.
• The Army Act, 1950, The Air Force Act, 1950 and The Navy Act, 1954 govern the field today. Army Act was passed after independence and came into effect on 22 July 1950. The Air Force Act, 1950 also came into force on the same date. The Navy Act came into force on 01 Jan 1958. The basic structure of the new Acts is quite similar to the old provisions. 
• No substantial/progressive changes made except introduction of a proper merits/appellate review from Courts Martial to the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) which was created in the year 2009 through the AFT Act, 2007

Shortcomings--institutional and attitudinal 

• Absence of prosecutorial independence. There is no independent prosecutorial authority or Director of Prosecution.
• All limbs of military justice work under the command and control of the authorities who are interested parties in prosecution, thereby reflecting a conflict of interest and (perceived or actual) command influence. 
• Concept of separation of powers and conflict of interest are grey areas.
• Military laws and systems followed are not draconian, but outdated and have long been jettisoned in the British jurisdiction from where they were borrowed. 
• The appointment of Chief of Defence Staff incepted in India to usher jointness between the Army, Navy and the Air Force, but strong and substantial thought and effort required on the subject of a common military justice code for all defence services. Efforts must not remain restricted to paper and must result in on-ground action.
• Absence of military judges [The members of Court Martial are not legally qualified and are only assisted by an officer of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) department who does not have a vote]. 
• Absence of standing/permanent courts or infrastructure. 
• Resistance (by default, not by design) towards change and propensity of status quo and lethargy on any suggested changes. 
• All procedural/practice changes brought about till now are due to intervention of Constitutional Courts (Supreme Court & High Courts) and not by way of introspection or self-initiation. 
• Immensely talented officers and thought-process available with a rich and globally appreciated jurisprudential bank of judicial precedents, but a collective organisational push needed.  

Military justice in India's joint commands

A bill has been introduced in India's Lok Sabha that would give commanders of inter-service commands the power to discipline personnel from all participating service branches. Details here. This seems a worthwhile step, but how about a single disciplinary statute for all services? Or seeing to the many other things needed for a military justice system that satisfies contemporary global norms, such as a proper military trial bench with terms of office sufficient to ensure judicial independence, and shifting charging power from commanders to lawyers independent of the chain of command?

Why do the Canadian Forces still not have a Chief Military judge?

Three years and counting without a chief military judge ...

This is a friendly reminder that, as of today, 20 March 2023, the Canadian Forces have been without a Chief Military Judge for three years.

Since the retirement of Colonel Mario Dutil, the last Chief Military Judge, on 20 March 2020, the Acting Chief Military Judge has been the Deputy Chief Military Judge, Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) L-V. d'Auteuil.  And, while LCol d'Auteuil has been the de jure Acting Chief Military Judge by virtue of section 165.29 of the National Defence Act (NDA), that does not alter the fact that, for three years, the Governor in Council has refused (or neglected) to designate a new Chief Military Judge under section 165.24 of the NDA.

Colonel Dutil retired under a cloud after the failed attempt by the Director of Military Prosecutions (DMP) to prosecute him before a court martial, and before the subsequent unsuccessful application for judicial review by DMP when the Deputy Chief Military Judge declined to appoint another military judge to preside at court martial.  Contemporaneously, three of the four sitting military judges produced progressively more pointed judgments regarding their independence, culminating in a series of judgments that stayed prosecutions by DMP in light of concerns regarding judicial independence:

• Military Judicial Independence: I have heard of orders, and rumours of orders …, 26 September 2020
• Judgments as ‘Remedial Measures’, 6 October 2020
• R v MacPherson et. al.: Judicial Independence Redux, 27 October 2020

A reasonable person would be justified in questioning the independence of the military judiciary in this context.

Those same judgments regarding the independence of the military judiciary in the Canadian Forces eventually gave rise to the judgment from the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (CMAC) in R v Edwards, et al, 2021 CMAC 2.  And, while the CMAC held that the military judges were sufficiently independent, the Supreme Court of Canada recently granted leave to appeal.

Consequently, I suggest that the ongoing refusal (or neglect) to designate a new Chief Military Judge remains one of several relevant factors that should be considered by the Supreme Court of Canada in its eventual hearing of the appeal.  And, while this ongoing lacuna is certainly not the most important factor, or likely an individually determinative factor, it remains an ongoing demonstration of the disregard that the Executive Branch has regarding the Code of Service Discipline and the military judiciary.  And, I suggest that this is an entirely unnecessary demonstration of disregard.

After all, how difficult can it be to chose from among four military judges to designate a Chief Military Judge?  And, if the Governor in Council is satisfied to have LCol d'Auteuil serve as Acting Chief Military Judge, what could be the justification for not designating him the Chief Military Judge?  As I have stated, repeatedly, in this Blog, no other court comprised of federally appointed judges has gone more than 3 or 4 months without an actual Chief Judge or Chief Justice.  A three-year gap starts to look like a punitive measure.

The most charitable conclusion that could be offered is that the Governor in Council simply doesn't care enough to designate a Chief Military Judge.  And there are less charitable conclusions that could be drawn - including a subtle remonstration of the military judges for having the temerity to question their own independence.  In any event, this ongoing lacuna continues to undermine the military justice system at a time when the Governor in Council should be seeking to reinforce confidence in the Code of Service Discipline.

Military justice portrait gallery

Charles M. Clode
(1818-1893)

Welcome to a brand-new Global Military Justice Reform feature: the Portrait Gallery. From time to time, our photo editor will post images so military justice mavens will be able to put a face to a name. Any suggestions?*

* No low-hanging fruit, please. George III is already on the site.

Indiana breaks ranks

A bill that would remove the right of Indiana's state military personnel to refuse nonjudicial punishment is on its way to the governor's desk. Dollars to donuts he signs it. The Indiana Capitol Chronicle has this worthwhile status report by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz. Excerpt:

Asked if Indiana should give the guard the resources to hold courts-martial — rather than block members from demanding them — key lawmakers acknowledged some need, but to varying degrees.

“If the issue is that you don’t have the resources or locations, that might be something we need to look at,” Senate Pro Tem Rodric Bray told reporters Thursday. “I’ll tell you the other side … I’m not sure for these these minor issues that we really want our National Guard using their time and their resources to do that more lengthy process.”

“If this [bill] is what they want, I’m very happy to support it,” Bray added.

House Speaker Todd Huston congratulated Senators for passing the bill in comments to reporters. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta said he hoped [Governor Eric] Holcomb would find room in the budget for trial resources.

Guard leaders said there’d been four reported sexual assault cases last year, but didn’t ask Holcomb to convene courts-martial even for those cases, WFYI reported. It is unclear the outcome of those cases.

It would be nice to know if the four 2022 sexual assault cases were referred to civilian prosecutors.

When signed, the measure will create a major discrepancy between the rights of Indiana National Guard and Air National Guard personnel and those of federal military personnel.

By the numbers

Today Global Military Justice Reform scored its first known reader in the Cayman Islands, so let's run the numbers:

Posts, 6979

Comments, 1048

Hits, 1,213,493

Town Halls, 24

Jurisdictions, 194

Contributors, 26

Editors, 1

Thanks to everyone for helping us reach this point. Keep the posts and comments coming.

Happy Evacuation Day

Greetings to the citizenry of Boston and Somerville -- today is Evacuation Day.

Unnatural acts

The Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela has invalidated a provision of the country's military code that criminalized acts against nature, finding the term too vague. CNN reports:

The Constitutional Chamber of the highest court annulled, at the request of the ombudsman, Alfredo Ruiz, the provision contained " for lacking sufficient clarity and legal precision with regard to the conduct that it sought to sanction," the TSJ said in a press release.

Likewise, it said that the norm imposed a sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison on the military who committed "unnatural sexual acts", without defining what should be understood by such acts, when constitutional principles require that the description of the crimes be clear and precise to avoid investigations and sanctions "apart from those that the legislator wanted to penalize."

The March 16, 2023 decision in Judgment No. 0128, Dkt. No. 23-0288, can be found here.

Alternative service ordered for Russian conscientious objector

A Russian court has ordered a religiously-based conscientious objector to perform alternative service. Details here.

"The Leningrad Regional Court upheld a ruling of a lower court that deemed the drafting of Pavel Mushumansky unlawful and said he was entitled to fulfill his duty in another way, Mushumansky’s lawyer, Alexander Peredruk, said."

Discipline in the U.S. Merchant Marine

CNN has this extensive account of sexual assault issues in the U.S. Merchant Marine, over which the U.S. Coast Guard has regulatory authority administered by administrative law judges through license suspension and revocation hearings.

Prison authorities block Supreme Court appeals of Pakistani capital sentences

Prison authorities have thwarted the ability of five men facing execution following military trials to seek review by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Details here. Excerpt:

“Unfortunately, these death-row prisoners in the Central Jail, Peshawar, did not even know that their appeals in the Peshawar High Court were dismissed five years ago and their cases came to light only when the KP Home Department wrote to the registrars of the Supreme Court and PHC to seek information about any pending appeals of eight condemned prisoners in Kohat jail convicted by military courts after their mercy petitions were rejected by President Arif Alvi in December 2022,” [Shabbir Hussain] Gigyani said.

Dep't of Serendipitous Research (Military Justice Section)

Lord Loughborough

In Grant v. Gould (C.P. 1792), a British recruiting sergeant sought a writ of prohibition against the Judge Advocate General and others following his general court-martial conviction on a charge of having promoted and being instrumental in the recruitment of soldiers of the Coldstream Guards into the service of the East India Company. 

Grant was sentenced to be reduced to private and "to receive" -- wait for it -- "one thousand lashes on the bare back, with a cat-o'-nine tails, by the drummers of such corp or corps, at such time or times, and in such proportions as his Majesty shall think fit to appoint." 

The Court of Common Pleas, per Lord Loughborough, denied relief. The last paragraph of the opinion reads (at p. 107):

With respect to the sentence itself, and the supposed severity of it, I observe that the severe part is by the court deposited, where it ought to be, in the breast of his majesty. I have no doubt but that the intention of that was, to leave room for an application for mercy to his majesty, from the goodness and clemency of whose disposition, applications of this nature are always sure to be duly considered, and to have all the weight they can possibly deserve.

Hoosier hanky-panky

So what's the deal with the pending military justice legislation in Indiana? Proponents say it's critical that the adjutant general be able to convene a general court-martial (in addition to the governor), but it turns out that there is. no evidence the governor has even been asked to do so in years. Excerpt:

“[House Bill 1076] allows the adjutant general to convene a court-martial, in addition to the governor,” Rep. Chris Jeter (R-Fishers), the bill’s author, said on the House floor on Jan. 23. “Under current law, only the governor can. That has proven to be really difficult logistically for the National Guard.”

Jeter, who has experience as a military lawyer, had previously said that he worked closely with Guard leaders on this bill. A Guard spokesperson declined our request to explain what “proven” difficulties they’ve faced if there hasn’t even been an attempt to get the governor to convene anything.

They also declined to explain why they didn’t attempt to call for the governor to convene a court-martial in those four sexual assaults last year. The governor’s office also didn’t comment on whether not calling for a court-martial in those cases was appropriate in time for publication.

There may be a strong reason Guard leaders believe they can’t or shouldn’t bring these cases to the governor, but spokespeople for both declined to provide any such explanation.

BTW, while Indiana is amending its Code of Military Justice, how about getting in step with Uncle Sam by transferring disposition power to lawyers outside the chain of command, as Congress has done for many offenses? 

Annual reports to the ABA

The annual reports of the Judge Advocates General to the American Bar Association are online. They can be found here.

Immunity issue in Jamaica

Madam Justice
Vinnette Graham-Allen

A judge in Jamaica will decide whether three soldiers involved in the 2010 shooting death of a civilian are entitled to immunity under disputed "certificates of good faith" issued by a past Minister of National Security. Details here. The victim was shot in the back 21 times.

On the banks of the Wabash, far away

Remember that Indiana bill that would take away the right of National Guard and Air National Guard personnel to turn down non-judicial punishment? Here's an excerpt from a recent op-ed:

One portion of the bill would remove the right of an Indiana National Guard member to request a court martial for what is called “non-judicial punishment.” Non-judicial punishment is typically used for minor offenses that do not have a criminal penalty. In such cases, the service member’s commander doles out the punishment, rather than a court. At any point during the process (prior to the sentencing), the service member is allowed to request a court martial instead. A court martial ensures a fair trial and requires evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt,” whereas non-judicial punishment has less stringent requirements to find the service member guilty.

However, the state of Indiana wants to take that right away. Those in favor of the bill claim that there are too many service members requesting court martial and abusing the system. The data, however, tells another story: In the last five years there has been a total of one (yes, only one) Indiana National guard member who has requested a court martial. This hardly seems worthy of upending 247 years of military tradition. [Emphasis added.]

Sex offenses at service academies

The latest data from the Defense Department show an increase in sex offenses at the three DoD service academies, as reported here. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's memorandum on corrective actions in response to what he called an "alarming increase" can be found here. Among them:

Communicate the Importance of Military Justice Reforms. I direct the Secretaries of the Military Departments, in collaboration with the Military Department Judge Advocate Generals and the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, to work with their respective Superintendents to inform cadets and midshipmen about significant changes to the military justice process scheduled to take effect in December 2023. This includes communicating information on the independence, role, and responsibilities of the Office of Special Trial Counsel, the revised role of the Superintendent in military justice, and impacts of reforms on MSA [Military Service Academy] disciplinary processes. Materials will be prepared in time for delivery well before the changes take effect in December 2023. The Secretaries of the Military Departments will provide a copy of such materials to the DoD General Counsel no later than October 23, 2023.

POW trial rights

. . . The Third Geneva Convention requires that POWs be assimilated along a few axes to the legal regime governing the armed forces of the detaining State. That is, POWs are subject to the same rules and procedures governing the armed forces of their captors (GC III, art. 82). Note that this POW right to trial by regular military court is, in many instances, a legal disability. It is well understood that trial procedures utilized by military courts often fall short of international due process standards, and typically fall short of the rights recognized in the parallel civilian system. In other words, the “same procedures, same courts” right accorded POWs has ambiguous protective consequences. The important point is that several specific protections in the Third Geneva Convention entitle POWs to be treated like members of the opposing armed forces—a suite of protections clearly linked to the specific requirements of POW status. But the humanitarian value of these protections is unclear—and the content of POW fair trial rights in this context has arguably been overtaken by the legal developments associated with fundamental guarantees.

Derek Jinks, Protecting POWs in Contemporary Conflicts, Mar 10, 2023, an excellent article from West Point's Articles of War series

Model Law on Military Justice (Caribbean)

The Commonwealth Secretariat is soliciting applications to prepare model military justice legislation for Caribbean countries. The announcement can be found here. Applications are due by April 6, 2023.

The model law, or model provisions, will serve as a template for countries with similar-sized armed forces that are seeking to reform their military justice systems. The purpose of the consultancy is to research and draft the proposed model law.

The output of the procurement will be a set of model legislative provisions on military law for summary and court martial systems in the Caribbean, with explanatory notes and commentary as appropriate, taking account of the Decaux Principles, the Yale Draft Principles, and the recommendations of the Commonwealth military justice advisory group.

The model legislative provisions produced will include:

1) A short introduction and background to the model provisions, including the history and evolution of military justice systems and jurisprudence in the Caribbean region.

2) An assessment, based on published legislation and regulations, of the compliance of each Commonwealth Caribbean country’s military justice system with human rights standards.

3) Model provisions covering all areas necessary to comprehensively cover a modern approach to military justice, drawing from:

a) International Humanitarian Law

b) Decaux Principles and Yale Draft Principles

c) International Human Rights Standards

d) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

e) Gap Analysis

f) Recommendations from advisory group

4) Explanatory notes, commentary and alternative/optional provisions to accompany the model provisions, including context and references to international standards and other legal regimes as appropriate.

What does dying in "active service" mean?

The Civil Guard is Spain is one of two national police forces. It is military in nature and subject to the Ministries of Interior and Defense.

The widow of a Colonel of the Civil Guard, who died of a stroke while in active service, was denied compensation for his death while "in active service" because the lower court affirmed the Ministry of Interior's Resolution denying the higher pension because "the circumstances and the conditions under which he died did not amount to active service." The case came on appeal to the Audiencia Nacional, a higher court, but inferior to the Spanish Supreme Court.

The Colonel had a stroke on September 23, 2018, a Sunday, after going for a run and telling his wife that he had felt ill for a week.  He was taken to a hospital, placed in intensive care and died on September 27.  His widow received a pension but it was not as high as if he had died "in active service."

His widow argued on appeal that he died in active service because hwas suffering from the stress of his job, but the relevant legislative provisions for granting this pension require that the person die during working hours and at the work place.  Since he died on a Sunday, these requisites were not met and the Audiencia Nacional affirmed the lower court's ruling.

Reform in Togo -- and new (civilian) judges

Togo Breaking News reports here on major changes in Togolese military justice, including the appointment of civilian judges to serve on the military trial and appellate courts. Excerpt:

The changes made concern the composition of the military tribunal, the members and assessors of the correctional chambers and the jurors of the criminal chambers. They also affect the rules of jurisdiction and the composition of the public prosecutor's office. Finally, there is an obligation to issue letters rogatory in the area of ​​judicial information.

The amendments replace “military judges” with “military assessors and jurors”. They also enshrine the choice of common law magistrates as presidents of the chambers of the court and of the military court of appeal according to well-defined criteria (nature of the case, rank of the accused).

Is the atheist padre in?

Can an atheist be a military chaplain? Consider this case from Ireland. Some of the details about religious practice in the Irish Defence Forces are fascinating. Excerpt:

“I have no doubt that religious leaders make very good military chaplains and would likely succeed during any assessment and interview process because of their pastoral work in the community,” he wrote. “It is not, however, proportionate that no one else can apply or be considered for appointment as chaplain, irrespective of that potential candidate’s qualities and competencies.”

In arriving at his conclusions, Mr [Kevin] Baneham made reference to Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces last year which found that “the Defence Forces’ chaplaincy service needs to be adjusted in line with international best practice to better reflect the religious/non-religious affiliations of younger Irish people today”.

That report also “noted a number of examples of outdated practices which should be discontinued,” in the Defence Forces. “These include, but are not limited to, the convening of a Roman Catholic Mass associated with an induction ceremony; treatment of pregnancy/childbirth as an irregular absence from duty; and not permitting certain styles of facial hair, such as beards,” it said.

Uganda, again

Is it an offense to write on social media that personnel on a deployment are not being paid? So it seems in Uganda, judging by this account. "Spreading harmful propaganda" is defined in section 137 of the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces Act, 2005.