It is a rather complex and multi-part question. The short answer is that I believe there are very rare circumstances in which the Vice Chief of Defence Staff would intervene in this matter. However, the discretion is still there, based on the current legislation.
The second part of your question I guess is whether we are reviewing the circumstances in which it might occur. I suggest that this will be the subject of further examination by this committee. It would be appropriate to pose that question to the Judge Advocate General in the coming session, and future witnesses, to perhaps further weigh the appropriateness of when and where a Vice Chief of Defence Staff might make such an intervention and whether this would be deemed undue interference in the process, as opposed to, again, one of those circumstances, rare though it might be, where the intervention of the chain of command might be appropriate, based on the necessity to maintain order and discipline. Operational security, I suppose, might be another matter where there could be an intervention.