Time for Canada to abolish military tribunals

What Canada needs is to civilianize its court martial system. Period. The current system is lacking judicial independence, is procedurally inefficient and unnecessarily costly, and there is no purpose for it remaining as is.

Master Cpl. Scott Galbraith, pictured Jan. 30, 2020, aboard HMCS Fredericton during Operation Reassurance. Globally, there is an overwhelming change in the way that militaries administer justice, and the trend is for the complete abolishment and/or civilianization of military tribunals of criminal jurisdiction in peacetime, write Michel Drapeau and Joshua Juneau. Photograph courtesy Cpl. Simon Arcand, Canadian Armed Forces

Opinion

BY MICHEL DRAPEAU AND JOSHUA JUNEAU

June 8, 2020

OTTAWA—In 2018, the Auditor General of Canada's Office released its report on the administration of justice in the Canadian Armed Forces. The overall conclusion was bleak: Canada’s military justice system is inefficient, marred with delay, and plagued with “systemic weaknesses.” Moreover, th...

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