For your reading list

Dwight H. Sullivan, who knows a rattling good tale when he sees one, has written The First Uniformed Judge Advocate General of the Navy: A Distinguished Marine Felled by Mental Illness, about Col. William Butler Remey, USMC (1842-95). You can find it in the just issued 69 Naval L. Rev. 1 (2023).

Job posting, Military Justice Review Panel

General Attorney, Military Justice Review Panel, GS-15

The incumbent serves as legal counsel for the Military Justice Review Panel (MJRP), which includes the Chair and Members, Deputy Director, and Director of the Military Justice Support Group (MJSG), and is a legal authority on all matters arising with the organization. The position is within the MJSG, and includes supporting the high-visibility, high-priority work of the MJRP and other advisory entities requiring such support as determined by the General Counsel/Director, DLSA and at the discretion of the Director, MJSG.

The incumbent must be able to exercise significant initiative in accomplishing the position’s assigned missions. The incumbent conducts 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. 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 performs detailed comparative legal analysis of military, federal, state, and other systems of justice, including comparable foreign systems. The incumbent organizes research, arranges hearings, site visits, interviews, data presentations, and briefings to support the organization and supported advisory panel.

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 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 Staff Director, Military Justice Support Group, and, through the Deputy General Counsel for Personnel and Health Policy and the Principal Deputy General Counsel, to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.

We are accepting resumes until February 15, 2024. 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 justice legislation in Egypt

There's new legislation governing Egypt's military courts. Excerpt from this AhramOnline report:

The most prominent amendments include adding a level of jurisdiction, namely the Military Court for Appellate Crimes.

The levels of military courts now comprise the Supreme Military Court for Appeals, the Military Court for Appellate Crimes, the Military Court for Crimes, the Military Court for Appellate Misdemeanors, and the Military Court for Misdemeanors.

Their jurisdiction was specified in handling lawsuits and disputes brought to them according to the law. 

The president of the Military Judiciary Council was given the authority to organize the chambers of the Supreme Military Court for Appeals, and the director of military courts was given the authority to organize the chambers of the other military courts.

Chaos continues in Pakistan's military-courts case

Here we go again. An objection has been raised to the employment of private counsel to represent some of rthe respondents in Pakistan's military-courts case. And today, with the recusal of a judge who was to have sat on the bench hearing the inter-court appeal, the court is dissolved and the case is back to Square 1 (or maybe Square 5). A new bench has to be constituted.

Casey Stengel, call home.

Reaction to R v Vu, 2024 SCC 1 in Canadian news media

Last Friday, Sean Fine, the Globe & Mail "justice reporter", presented an article on the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) judgment in R v Vu, 2024 SCC 1.  This was an appeal of the Minister of National Defence (represented by the Director of Military Prosecutions), as of right, from a judgment of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (CMAC).  

This matter concerned a prosecution of alleged sexual assault before a court martial.  The accused was acquitted at trial, and the CMAC upheld that judgment.  The SCC further upheld the acquittal - which was the first time in nearly six years that the SCC handed down a judgment involving the prosecution of a sexual offence that was favourable to an accused.

In light of the content of the Globe & Mail article, perhaps more needs to be said.

Rory Fowler, "R v Vu – Redux" (29 January 2024), online: Blog, Law Office of Rory G Fowler <http://roryfowlerlaw.com/r-v-vu-redux/>