I agree, Mr. Harris.
Let me say this, though. The conviction rate in summary trials is actually lower than it is in civilian proceedings. Rather than there being a sort of railroad where we're going to, as they used to joke, “march the guilty bastard in”, I don't think the evidence actually bears that out. There is a higher acquittal rate in summary military trials than there is in civilian proceedings.
Leaving that aside, I agree with you in principle, but the challenge will be resolving this. As a service person, if I.... And some of the things the system deals with are charges like drunk and disorderly, when two people get into a fight in a bar, which is assault. Under the current system, I have a right to elect for a summary proceeding. If I were convicted through that, presumably most people would say there should be a criminal record, because if I thumped someone on civilian street, I'd get a criminal record for assault causing bodily harm. I agree with the premise. The challenge will be finding the right sort of language to allow us to determine which sorts of offences we think should attract a criminal record versus those we might call pure service offences--to take a silly example, having filthy shoes or something like that. That would be the drafting challenge. The principle I agree with.