I want to make a few comments about the 95%.
I worked in a corrections for eight and a half years. In that context, I realized that mistakes unfortunately occurred, although not really frequently. When people have a criminal record, there are exhaustive and complex offsetting mechanisms.
When I was a Canadian Forces reservist, we were often told that we could not make mistakes because there were consequences if we did so. Now there are two systems: courts martial and summary trials. When we were part of the civilian correctional service—a few of us were military members—and talked about the military system, we emphasized how efficient the JAG was. Compared to the summary trial system, it was quick, exhaustive and detailed. However, some things should nevertheless be improved.
I find it hard to understand why we have reached only 95%. The mechanisms in effect in the case of a summary trial are far from perfect. Does that mean the JAG is effective and a summary trial is not? Why not delete everything and make sure the right people and the right mechanisms are in place? The judgment could have serious consequences and, in particular, generate a criminal record. Why are any still outstanding?
Does the government feel—although I doubt that is the case—that summary trials will henceforth be acceptable at all levels and that it will no longer be necessary to use the system of lawyers and judges to adjudicate cases properly and to go into detail? I assume errors can occur. In the case of summary trials, the number of cases in which people wind up with a criminal record is very small. There is therefore no reason not to direct those cases systematically to courts martial.