National Defence committee  The focus in Bill C-60 is a result of the urgency of the situation. That's why it's so narrowly focused in terms of the way ahead. On the broader issue of representation, I did my master's thesis in 1989 on the constitutionality of the summary trial system. There was a review i

National Defence committee  I'm sorry, will the charter provisions...?

National Defence committee  That is the concern we have right now. Time is running. The issue was raised in the judgment itself that perhaps there's another way to do this; the problem is that specifically the judgment said the ability to convene a court without those provisions has no force and effect. I

National Defence committee  Well, under our system, just as under the civilian justice system, the prosecutor will decide in terms of individual cases what the situation is in terms of the passage of time. The advantage of Bill C-60 and moving expeditiously is that it will limit that as being an issue. From

National Defence committee  Of course, sir, the Supreme Court is dealing with constitutional legal issues. The focus, necessarily, before the courts is on the legal issues. What this legislation is doing is dealing with the effects of the decision, that is, with issues concerning the preference to have a s

National Defence committee  I find it difficult to answer that question, other than to say we will have a fully functioning justice system and courts proceeding. This committee will have had a hand in making that happen. In terms of learning about the operation of the system in Bill C-60, we'll provide t

National Defence committee  On the process of review and the regular reviews, clearly the desire set out in the 2003 Lamer report is to parallel the civilian justice system but retain those parts that are unique requirements of the military justice system. The military justice system is fully subject to cha

National Defence committee  From my perspective as superintendent, it's essential that we get clarity, get Bill C-60, get the court martial system operating, provide these extra rights to the accused, and get a process that ensures that victims' needs are being met and broader military societal needs are be

National Defence committee  Yes. We would have the problem that it would put us back in a similar situation to where we are now.

National Defence committee  A summary trial is a type of trial. In our two-tier system of justice we have courts martial and we have summary trials. You can think of summary trials as occurring at a unit level in front of the commanding officer, for example. The court martial, of course, is like a criminal

National Defence committee  No, the summary trial stays intact. This bill is focused on the court martial system and, when a court is being convened, on the ability of an accused to then be able to choose the type of trial in the various circumstances set out in the bill.

National Defence committee  It's certainly intended to be.

National Defence committee  Exactly, Mr. Hawn. We cannot predict that.

National Defence committee  As I mentioned in my opening remarks, this legislation is broader than Trépanier. Trépanier was limited to one type of offence. This would extend the same rights to accused charged with serious offences that would attract life imprisonment, for instance, or for other offences tha

National Defence committee  It has the danger of bringing a system to a halt. One of the effects of Bill C-60, obviously, is that it's fundamentally changing the system. If those effects of Bill C-60 come to a halt, you won't have the ability to convene courts martial. Those provisions in fact will disapp