Military Justice
The Senate referred the matter of the effectiveness of Australia’s military justice system to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee for inquiry and report in October 2003. In June 2005, the committee tabled its report, The effectiveness of Australia's military justice system. The committee concluded there was a need for a wholesale review of the military justice system and made 40 recommendations proposing significant enhancements to the system.
In October 2005, the Government Response to the Senate Committee Report was tabled. In all, 32 recommendations were accepted.
Since then, Defence has been working to overhaul the military justice system in response to the report, putting in place the significant changes the system has seen in more than 20 years.
To date, 26 recommendations are complete (current April 2008).
Changes
The reforms fundamentally change almost every element of the military justice system. How Defence:
- investigates, prosecutes, represents, tries and reviews under the disciplinary system;
- conducts administrative inquiries and manages complaints;
- audits, reviews and reports the military justice system;
- trains and prepares its people - including, our Service Police, legal officers, inquiry officers and commanding officers; and
- exercises its duty of care for its people, including members of the ADF Cadets.
Independent review of the changes
One of the final recommendations of the Government Response to the Senate Committee Report was to review the effectiveness of the overhauled military justice system.
The report recommended Defence commission regular independent reviews of the health of the military justice system, with the first timed to assess the effectiveness of the overhauled military justice system at the conclusion of the two-year implementation.
Sir Laurence Street and Air Marshal Les Fisher (Ret’d) will lead the first independent review. The Terms of Reference were signed in March 2008. Preliminary work is underway, with the review formally commencing by 1 July 2008.Links:
Senate Inquiry | Investigative capability reform | Learning culture inquiry | Reports | Senate Committee review of reforms to Australia's military justice system