Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Does Ukraine need military justice?

Judging by this program that took place today, the question is a live one.
Is military justice needed: what does justice for the military look like?

PRESS CENTER UCMC ANNOUNCE DATE: 05.02.2025 TIME: 14:00 

SPEAKERS: 
Serhiy Rakhmanin, Member of Parliament, Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence; 
Viktor Chumak, Chief Military Prosecutor of Ukraine (2019-2020), Major General of Justice (retired); 
Pavlo Bohutskyi, Military Prosecutor of the Western Region of Ukraine (2011), Southern Region of Ukraine (2014-2015), Major General of Justice (retired); Doctor of Law, Head of the Scientific Laboratory of Military and International Humanitarian Law of the State Scientific Institution "Institute of Information, Security and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine", Honored Lawyer of Ukraine (online); 
Valentyn Badrak, Director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies; co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium; 
Sergiy Zgurets, Director of Defense Express; co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium (online); 
Mykhailo Samus, Director of the New Geopolitics Research Network; co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium; 
Oleksiy Yizhak, National Institute for Strategic Studies; co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium (online); 
Vasyl Pekhnyo, moderator, journalist. 

VENUE: Press center of Ukraine Crisis Media Center 

ORGANIZER: Defense Information Consortium On February 5, 2025, at 14:00, a roundtable discussion will be held: Is military justice needed: what does justice for the military look like? 

Questions for discussion: Prospects for the development of military justice in Ukraine Do we need military police, military courts, specialized Military Prosecutor’s office, and military lawyers? Problems of ensuring the rights of servicemen How should combat officers and generals be held accountable? Responsibility of the military for going AWOL and desertion The role of the military ombudsman (Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Servicemen and Family Members of Servicemen) in the legal support of defense 

Attention! In case of an air raid alert, visitors of the event can use the shelter located in the basement of the Ukrainian House

Оригінал статті - на сайті Українського кризового медіа-центру: https://uacrisis.org/en/announce/chy-potribna-vijskova-yustytsiya

Maybe not a standoff in Kampala?

The Attorney General of Uganda has advised Parliament that the government is taking steps to comply with the Supreme Court's decision in the Kabaziguruka case. According to this report, these steps include:

  • Immediate Halt of Civilian Trials: All criminal trials involving civilians currently pending before the General Court Martial are to cease immediately.
  • Identification of Pending Cases: The GCM, in collaboration with the Uganda Prisons Authority, has been instructed to compile a comprehensive list of all civilian criminal cases. These cases will be forwarded to the appropriate civilian courts for trial.
  • Transfer of Military Cases: The GCM is also required to identify cases involving Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) members that fall under civilian jurisdiction for transfer to relevant courts.
  • Role of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions: The Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been advised to work closely with the GCM and UPDF to oversee the transition of cases from the military courts to the civilian judicial system.
  • Guidance to Uganda Prisons Authority: The Uganda Prisons Authority has been directed to await court orders regarding the detention status of individuals previously held under military court warrants.
  • Amendments to the UPDF Act: The Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs has been tasked with reviewing the Supreme Court’s recommendations and initiating amendments to the UPDF Act to reflect the new legal framework.

Another day's hearing in Pakistan

The Express Tribune has this detailed account of yet another day's hearing in the Military Courts Case pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The hearing has been adjourned to February 9. Quaere: will anyone mention the recent Ugandan decision in the recent Kabaziguruka case? Excerpt:

Salman Akram Raja countered by pointing out that in countries like India, military trial procedures offer a fairer system, including the provision for appeals in a civilian tribunal.

He argued that military trials in Pakistan, where appeals are heard by the Army Chief, lack transparency and fairness, leaving civilians at a distinct disadvantage.

Justice Mandokhel noted that the trial of civilians by military courts raises profound questions about the relationship between the civilian and military legal systems in Pakistan.

He questioned whether such trials would be justified in cases where the accused is not involved in any military-related offence.

Don Rehkopf, R.I.P.

Donald G. Rehkopf, Jr., a long-time and much respected military justice practitioner, passed away in Rochester, NY, on January 29, at age 74. He was a contributor to Global Military Justice Reform. Here is his obituary:

Predeceased by his parents, Donald and Elizabeth; sister, Donna (Douglas) Bopp. Survived by his brother, David (Lou Anne) Rehkopf; sister, Diane Rehkopf; life partner, Barbara Davies and her children, Kristin Spath and Scott Davies; several nieces and nephews.

Don was an Air Force JAG with 30 years of active and Reserve service, and world-wide experience in all aspects of military and federal security clearance law. In 1985 Don moved from Germany back to Rochester where he practiced in the Violent Felony Bureau of the Monroe County Public Defenders Office before returning to private practice. He tried nearly 250 cases to verdict, argued countless appeals and authored numerous amici curiae briefs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Don won numerous awards for his work and was the recipient of the 2005 Thurgood Marshall Award. He was a frequent Legal continuing education lecturer and author, including as a Social Justice Lecturer at the William Jewitt Tucker Center, Dartmouth College. Don's family and friends celebrate his incredible career and his influential life, while knowing he was so much more than that. He will be dearly missed by his colleagues and loved ones.

A Graveside Ceremony with Military Honors at Bath National Cemetery and a Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date. Please check the website for updated service times. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Don's memory to Planned Parenthood or the American Cancer Society. 

Don was a defense attorney to the very core.

Reform of military justice system in Colombia

Colombia's military justice system, in 2025, has entered the fourth phase of implementation. It is changing from an investigatory to an accusatory system. Members of the military who have committed crimes while in active service will be investigated and judged in a similar fashion and will the guarantees of the ordinary justice system.  A similar transformation has occurred in the ordinary justice system as the first adversarial trial began in late 2024 in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) the judicial arm of Colombia's transitional justice system stemming from the 2016 peace deal with the former Revolutionary Armed forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla against Colonel Hernan Mejia Gutierrez. Colonel Mejia is charged with being involved in 72 extrajudicial executions between 2002 and 2003 in the scandal known as "false positives."  That trial is still ongoing.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Monday, February 3, 2025

Attorney General v. Kabaziguruka -- a first look at a landmark

Longtime Global Military Justice Reform contributor Major (R) Navdeep Singh and the Editor have written Ugandan Supreme Court’s Courageous Ruling on Military Justice--its relevance to Indian Subcontinental Law for Bar & Bench. We conclude:

The decision of the Supreme Court of Uganda is testament to the complementary roles of national and international actors in advancing human rights. It comes at a time when the Rule of Law is threatened in a host of countries, and also a time when national judiciaries have been called upon to make the right to a fair trial before an independent and impartial court a reality. Sometimes, as in Uganda, or last year’s O’Brien decision by the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the court itself may be an engine of reform.

At other times, as in last year’s Edwards case in the Supreme Court of Canada, the court may see its role as more limited and view Parliament as the proper venue for reform. Either way, though progress can be and is being made, one can only admire the contribution of the Ugandan Supreme Court to the cause of justice and more particularly to military justice reform.

The Kabaziguruka case is sure to spark many conversations. Comments here are welcome (real names only, please).

Sunday, February 2, 2025

"Military Law: A Brief Introduction"- A session organized by the Bar Council at the Punjab & Haryana High Court, India

The Bar Council, in conjunction with the Indian Law Institute had organized a session titled “Military Law: A Brief Introduction” on the basics of military law and military justice essentially for the younger members of the bar, followed by Q & A. The session was held at the High Court of Punjab & Haryana, Chandigarh, India. The speakers- Dr Shruti Bedi, Navdeep Singh and Rajeev Anand.


Saturday, February 1, 2025

Breaking news: Jacksonian defiance in Uganda

"John Marshall has
made his decision,
now let him enforce it"

Today's issue in Uganda is whether the military will comply with yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in Attorney General v. Kabaziguruka, [2025] UGSC 1 (31 January 2025). Judging by this article, the Defence Forces have other ideas. Excerpt:

The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) will not submit to the Supreme Court’s authority and will proceed with the trial of civilians in military courts.

In a defiant statement littered with all-caps, Colonel Chris Magezi, the public relations manager in the office of the Chief of Defence Forces, declared that the General Court Martial would continue trying Dr Kizza Besigye despite the highest court in the land ruling against military trials for civilians.

“The GENERAL COURT MARTIAL will continue to try ANYONE who conspires to MURDER THE PRESIDENT, commits ARMED REBELLION against Uganda, and engages in TERRORISM against the PEOPLE OF UGANDA,” Magezi said.

“Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will Colonel Kizza Besigye be RELEASED until he faces the FULL EXTENT of MARTIAL LAW.”

The Kabaziguruka Case

Global Military Justice Reform has now obtained a complete set of the opinions (306 pp.) in Attorney General v. Kabaziguruka (Uganda Sup. Ct. Jsn. 31, 2025). They can be found here.

The spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued the following statement:

We welcome today’s decision by the Supreme Court of Uganda to declare unconstitutional the practice of trying civilians in military courts.

We urge the relevant authorities to comply promptly with the Supreme Court’s ruling and immediately transfer any such ongoing and pending trials which warrant further proceedings under international law to civilian courts of competent jurisdiction. Alternatively, proceedings should be quashed and any civilians detained under the authority of the military courts released.

In addition, the Uganda People’s Defense Forces Act (UPDF), under which civilians have been tried before court martials, should be further amended to align with relevant provisions of the Ugandan constitution and international human rights law, in order to ensure compliance with international standards of due process and fair trial.

NTV Uganda posted this video report on the Supreme Court's announcement of its ruling.