Bill C-41 (Historical)

Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act

An Act to amend the National Defence Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

This bill was last introduced in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session, which ended in March 2011.

Sponsor

Peter MacKay  Conservative

Status

Report stage (House), as of March 24, 2011
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

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

This enactment amends provisions of the National Defence Act governing the military justice system. The amendments, among other things,
(a) provide for security of tenure for military judges until their retirement;
(b) permit the appointment of part-time military judges;
(c) specify the purposes, objectives and principles of the sentencing process;
(d) provide for additional sentencing options, including absolute discharges, intermittent sentences and restitution;
(e) modify the composition of a court martial panel according to the rank of the accused person; and
(f) modify the limitation period applicable to summary trials and allow an accused person to waive the limitation periods.
The enactment also sets out the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal’s duties and functions and clarifies his or her responsibilities. It also changes the name of the Canadian Forces Grievance Board to the Military Grievances External Review Committee.
Finally, it makes amendments to the delegation of the Chief of the Defence Staff’s powers as the final authority in the grievance process and makes consequential amendments to other Acts.

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 Feb. 7, 2011

  • Bernard Blaise Cathcart, Judge Advocate General, Canadian Forces, Department of National Defence
  • 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

National Defence Committee, on Feb. 9, 2011

  • Bruno Hamel, Chairperson, Canadian Forces Grievance Board
  • Caroline Maynard, Director of Operations and General Counsel, Canadian Forces Grievance Board

National Defence Committee, on Feb. 16, 2011

National Defence Committee, on Feb. 28, 2011

National Defence Committee, on March 2, 2011

  • Bruce Donaldson, Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, Department of National Defence
  • Alain Gauthier, Director General, Canadian Forces Grievances Authority, Department of National Defence
  • Timothy Grubb, Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, Department of National Defence
  • Patrick K. Gleeson, Deputy Judge Advocate General, Military Justice and Administrative Law, Department of National Defence
  • Lucie Tardif-Carpentier, Procedural Clerk

National Defence Committee, on March 7, 2011

National Defence Committee, on March 9, 2011

National Defence Committee, on March 23, 2011

  • Patrick K. Gleeson, Deputy Judge Advocate General, Military Justice Strategic Response Team, Office of the Judge Advocate General, Department of National Defence
  • Robert Davidson, Director of Staff, Strategic Joint Staff, Department of National Defence
  • Tom Lawson, Assistant Chief, Air Staff, Department of National Defence
  • Bernard Blaise Cathcart, Judge Advocate General, Canadian Forces, Department of National Defence
  • Jill Sinclair, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Department of National Defence