Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Clause 4 of the bill, which concerns the Chief of the Defence Staff, reads as follows:
(2) The Vice Chief of the Defence Staff may issue general instructions or guidelines in writing in respect of the responsibilities described in paragraphs 18.4(a) to (d). The Provost Marshal shall ensure that they are available to the public.
(3) The Vice Chief of the Defence Staff may issue instructions or guidelines in writing in respect of a particular investigation.
(4) The Provost Marshal shall ensure that instructions and guidelines issued under subsection (3) are available to the public.
(5) Subsection (4) does not apply in respect of an instruction or guideline, or of a part of one, if the Provost Marshal considers that it would not be in the best interests of the administration of justice for the instruction or guideline, or that part of it, to be available to the public.
In my view, these provisions may conflict with the principle of the independence of the police and the judiciary, which prevails in the Constitution. Consider the worst-case scenario. That's what I want to address.