An Act to amend the National Defence Act (court martial) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act

This bill was last introduced in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in September 2008.

Sponsor

Peter MacKay  Conservative

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

This enactment amends certain provisions of the National Defence Act that govern the military justice system. The amendments, among other things, reduce the number of types of courts martial from four to two and permit an accused person, in certain circumstances, to choose the type of court martial that will be convened. The enactment also provides that certain decisions of the panel of a General Court Martial must be unanimous and clarifies the provision that deals with the period of liability with respect to summary trials under the Code of Service Discipline. It also makes a consequential amendment to the Geneva Conventions Act.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

National Defence Committee, on June 16, 2008

  • Kenneth W. Watkin, Judge Advocate General, Department of National Defence
  • Colonel, Retired) Michel Drapeau (As an Individual
  • Marc Toupin, Procedural Clerk
  • Patrick K. Gleeson, Deputy Judge Advocate General, Military Justice and Administrative Law, Department of National Defence
  • Michael R. Gibson, Director, Strategic Legal Analysis, Department of National Defence