Is it over?

This Dawn article reports that a petition has been filed by attorney Aitzaz Ahsan asking the entire Supreme Court of Pakistan to review the intra-court appeals decision in the Military Courts Case. Stay tuned.

Forces Law Review

The first volume of the Forces Law Review (FLR), billed as the first international military law journal, was released Friday by Panjab University Vice-Chancellor (V-C) Renu Vig. At the event, certificates were also distributed to the Indian student editors who contributed to the publication.

The FLR is a collaborative effort between the National Institute of Military Justice (NIMJ), Washington DC, and the Centre for Constitution & Public Policy (CCPP), University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Panjab University, Chandigarh. It focuses on issues related to the defence services and other uniformed forces including the police, paramilitary, and armed police forces.

The Indian Express. 29 June 2025.

Uganda’s military law amendment attempting to nullify Supreme Court judgment, challenged by way of a Public Interest Litigation

Readers would be aware of the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Uganda wherein the apex court of the country by way of a judgment running into 306 pages, had declared illegal the trial of civilians by military courts. The court had also opined on many other aspects of military law.

Two editors of this blog (Eugene Fidell and Navdeep Singh) had written a detailed opinion piece on the judgment for Bar & Bench in February 2025 where we had pointed out that the Supreme Court had ruled that the system of court-martial was not independent and impartial, that it could not try civilians, and that the legislative provision subjecting military personnel to trial by court-martial for offences under the civilian criminal code were unconstitutional. We had further pointed out that the court made a variety of suggestions for measures the government could take to remedy the defects it had identified.

As was widely expected, an amendment of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Act was moved to nullify most of the dicta of the Supreme Court, to which assent was given by the country’s president. Many of the provisions of the amendments are in teeth of the judgment.

The story, however, was not to end there. Now, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Constitutional Court of Uganda by a citizen, Mr Dennis Daniel Ssemugenyi that the amendments have been initiated not only to circumvent and override the judgment of the apex court but are even otherwise unconstitutional since these threaten the very basics of independence of judiciary, separation of powers and prosecutorial independence.

A detailed report on the challenge can be accessed at Monitor.

Though the filing of a petition does not result in an automatic stay of the new law, it does provide a ray of hope by putting it in jeopardy if the court finally reaches a conclusion that it is ultra vires.

Eye strain in Spain

A delegation of the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) in Avila, Spain, made public an important judgment issued by the local Military Tribunal, which sanctioned one of their affiliates with a light penalty after he had originally been given a more serious penalty for the "crime" of "clumsiness" for accidentally breaking the screen of the computer he was using, rendering it useless.

The colleague worked in the traffic department in Avila and on a daily basis risked his life, although assisting citizens on the highway is not considered a risky profession.   The Military Tribunal overturned the lower court's decision and nullified the penalty due to the lack of impartiality of the sanctioning body.   The AUGC, a union that defends the rights of the Civil Guards, had denounced for years that the Civil Guards opts for applying a disproportionate and excessive disciplinary regime which demonstrates its lack of leadership.  According to the union, given its incapacity to lead, the Civil Guard opts for a policy of punishment and fear.  The union's lawyer was able to achieve the reversal of the penalty in the Military Tribunal.

New court begins work in South Sudan

A general court-martial has commenced work in South Sudan. Excerpt from this account:

A Military General Court Martial was inaugurated on Tuesday in the Western Bahr el Ghazal State capital, Wau, to hear criminal cases involving soldiers.

Speaking during the ceremony, Gen. Sten Kamilo Mboro, President of the SSPDF [South Sudan People's Defence Forces] General Court Martial, who led a delegation from Juba, revealed that the High Command directed them to open the court in Wau and urged military judges to be impartial.

“Although we delayed due to logistical challenges, we have finally come as a team to establish a court of law for the defense forces of South Sudan in Wau,” he stated. “We came under Order Number 5/2024, and we are not here to discriminate or trample on anyone’s rights, but all people will be judged while their rights are upheld.”

For his part, Major General Jiel Mangok Yel, the Commander of the SSPDF’s Fifth Infantry Division based in Wau, said the court martial will work to ensure accountability and justice, especially in cases involving military personnel and civilians.