THE Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2007 is a significant enhancement of the ADF’s military justice system.

Bruce Billson, Minister Assisting the Defence Minister, tabled the Bill in Federal Parliament on August 15. One of the final developments in response to the Senate’s 2005 report, The effectiveness of Australia’s Military Justice System, it complements a range of substantial improvements already made.

The reforms it contains would further improve the impartiality and fairness of the military justice system, Mr Billson said.
“The Bill is designed to provide for and balance the maintenance of effective discipline and the protection of individuals and the rights of ADF members,” he said.

“Because of the unique nature of warfare, the ADF applies a far greater level of regulation than that encountered in other forms of employment and demands behaviour consistent with its role as an armed force. Breaches of service discipline must be dealt with speedily, and sometimes more severely than would be the case if a civilian engaged in such conduct. It must be demonstrably objective, timely, impartial and fair to ADF members.”

The Head of the Military Justice Implementation Team, RAdm Mark Bonser, said the military justice system needed to balance the rights of individuals with effective discipline, which underpinned operational effectiveness.

“These enhancements are the most significant changes since the current Defence Force Discipline Act was introduced more than two decades ago,” RAdm Bonser said. “It’s important for us to be in a process of continuous improvement in our dynamic, values-based Defence Force.”

The Bill’s provisions include:

• a right in all cases to appeal a summary authority conviction, order or punishment to a Military Judge of the Australian Military Court, in addition to the safeguard provided by the oversight of summary convictions and punishments provided by reviewing authorities;
  
• the right to elect trial by a Military Judge of the Australian Military Court for all but a limited number of certain disciplinary offences;
  
• a fair and simplified evidence framework for summary trials more suitable to the maintenance of discipline, particularly in operational circumstances; and
  
• amendments to offences and punishments to improve their fairness and sustain the maintenance of discipline necessary for an effective armed force.

Other key developments to the system include the new triservice investigative unit that will work closely with civilian police, the backlog of redresses of grievance by ADF members has been cleared, a civilian with judicial experience now presides over inquiries into deaths of ADF members in service, and the plan to reinforce a culture based on Service values is under way following the Learning Culture Inquiry Report into ADF schools and training establishments.

For details of the Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2007, visit www.defence.gov.au/mjs