National Defence committee  Yes, I understand the question perfectly well. Thank you. Again, it's based on the facts. I'm not in that situation. I personally agree. I can't see how initially, with those set of facts, a commander would simply say, “Well, that's not sexual assault”. If he did, then I would suggest that would be an improper use of his judgment in that case.

National Defence committee  We can get the exact numbers. I don't have them at—

National Defence committee  Again, do you mean senior in terms of rank? In the last year we've had some senior people. We had a base commander at Wainwright, for example, who was a major. We had a case with a lot of notoriety, that of petty officer 2nd class James Wilks. That's a high rank for a non-commissioned member.

National Defence committee  I can't give you the exact date, but it will be very shortly.

National Defence committee  Right. Again, I thank you for your—

National Defence committee  Again, it depends on the question. If we're talking about an investigation and then a charge being laid specifically for sex assault, in most circumstances it would be handled by the military justice system, but it could also be handled by the civilian justice system.

National Defence committee  Again, there are two main areas in which it's determined. First is at the initial investigation stage, because particularly in Canada, we have multiple police forces that have jurisdiction. As the provost marshal indicated, if it's two members downtown, for example, then the starting position would be civilian police.

National Defence committee  I can give full assurance, as a superintendent of the administration of the military justice system, that our system is the equal and, in some cases, better in terms of resource availability for both victims and accused than the civilian side. Our standards and the way in which the investigators work, and the police, the judges, are exactly the same as a civilian court would be using.

National Defence committee  I superintend it. I make sure they have all the resources to do their jobs.

National Defence committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair and Mr. Harris, for the question. Just to be clear, I'm not in charge of prosecution.

National Defence committee  No, I'm not.

National Defence committee  Yes. The director of military prosecution is independent from me, independent from the chain of command, and makes his own lawful discretionary choices when dealing with charges. From that perspective, it's quite clear that the prosecution has its own legal obligations and discretion to exercise.

National Defence committee  I don't deal with prosecutions.

National Defence committee  Thank you for that question. I was confused about the question and the response. If you're talking about the annual reports that I'm responsible for as Judge Advocate General, they are not with the minister. Those are my reports. They are still being worked on. They're close to completion.

National Defence committee  Okay, we'll get back to it after.