Office of the Chief Military Judge - DPR - 2012-13

This page has been archived.

Office of the Chief Military Judge

The Office of the Chief Military Judge (CMJ) is an independent, special entity, Level 1 (L1) organization of the Department of National Defence (DND) established in1997. This Office is not part of the chain of command for reasons of judicial independence. Its personnel include military judges, the Court Martial Administrator and the Deputy Court Martial Administrator, military and civilian court-clerk reporters and technical, financial, human resource and administrative support. The CMJ is appointed by the Governor in Council and is designated as an officer having the power and jurisdiction of an officer commanding a command.

The role of the Office of the CMJ is to fulfill its statutory and regulatory obligations, which are:

• to provide military judges to preside at courts martial and perform other judicial duties under the National Defence Act;
• administer the convening of courts martial, the appointment of panel members of General Courts Martial, and the provision of court reporting services and transcription of the proceedings of courts martial and other judicial hearings; and
• military judges may, with the concurrence of the CMJ, be appointed as a board of inquiry.

The Court Martial Administrator, who acts under the general supervision of the CMJ, convenes courts martial in respect of charges that have been preferred by the Director of Military Prosecutions. In the case of General Courts Martial, the Court Martial Administrator appoints their members. The Court Martial Administrator issues summonses to witnesses and manages the L1 organization.

All military judges are active members of the Canadian Bar Association Judges' Forum and the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-13, the military judges participated at National Judicial Institute courses, the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the Canadian Bar Association Judge’s Forum.

Results achieved in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-13

• Obtained sufficient accommodations for the full complement of staff;
• Completed review of Court Reporter Occupation;
• Approval of Military Employment Structure Implementation Plan (MESIP) for the Court Clerk-Reporter occupation on 10 December 2012 and effective 14 December 2012;
• Completed the placement of court martial decisions on the Internet. A publishing agreement was reached with CanLII (LexUM) to incorporate court martial decisions in their Canadian legal databases, thereby providing free public access to the broader legal community; and
• Outreach was effectively accomplished with participation of the military judges at National Judicial Institute courses, the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the Canadian Bar Association Judge’s Forum. Two of the Military Judges participated in a conference hosted by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies. Two Military Judges participated in the National Criminal Law Program.

Source : Office of the Chief Military Judge

Notes: The difference between Planned Spending and Actual Spending for FY 2012-13 is due to the following:

Vote 1 – Operating and Maintenance:

• The costs of courts martial, in general, have evolved and escalated over the past few years. An amendment to the National Defence Act (NDA) in 2008 provides for two types of courts martial only, notably, a Standing Court Martial (SCM) presided by a Military Judge sitting alone and a General Court Martial (GCM) composed of a Military Judge and a panel of five military members. In the majority of preferrals, the accused person must be given an election with regards to the type of court martial he/she wishes to be tried by. Many of the accused persons elect to be tried by SCM. By default, however, if an election is not made by the accused person, a GCM must be convened pursuant to section 165.193(3) NDA. As a result, the numbers of GCM’s has significantly increased, as have the complexity of the offences and the costs of the courts martial.
• Two judicial sitting weeks are, normally, reserved for each GCM, albeit the duration of a court martial cannot be pre-determined.
• The Office of the CMJ incurs the temporary duty costs for panel members for a GCM as well as support costs for reserve members on duty in support of courts martial. The panel/committee of a GCM is composed of five primary members and a minimum of two alternate members pursuant to section 167.1 NDA and Article 111.04 of the Queen’s Regulations and Orders.
• Some examples of un-forecasted expenditures for our core activities include the following:
  • Then Warrant Officer P.G. Ravensdale (retired) was charged in 2012 with manslaughter, two charges of breach of duty, unlawfully causing bodily harm, and two charges of negligently performing a military duty imposed on him. The foregoing charges were preferred by the Director Military Prosecution for an incident that took place in Kan Kala, Afghanistan, during February 2012. The GCM took place in Canada at CFB Shilo, Manitoba, from 12 November 2012 to 21 February 2013. The costs of this GCM from the budget of the Office of the CMJ totalled $58,908.00.
  • Captain M. Duncan was charged in 2012 with disobeying a lawful command of a superior officer and stealing, when entrusted by reason of her employment, with the custody, control or distribution of the thing stolen. The GCM took place at CFB Esquimalt, Victoria, BC, from 21 January 2013 to 06 February 2013. The costs of this GCM from the budget of the Office of the CMJ totalled $30,771.00.
  • Then Major D.W. Watts was charged in 2012 with manslaughter, two charges of breach of duty, unlawfully causing bodily harm, and two charges of negligently performing a military duty imposed on him. The foregoing charges were preferred by the Director Military Prosecution for an incident that took place in Kan Kala, Afghanistan, during February 2012. The GCM took place in Canada at the accused person’s Reserve Unit in Calgary, Alberta, from 26 January 2013 to 20 March 2013. The costs of this GCM from the budget of the CMJ totalled $75,483.00.
• The Office of the CMJ influences neither the number of courts martial convened, their duration nor the geographic location where they are to be held. The increased expenditure in the O&M budget is reflective of the increasing costs of doing business in the administration of justice governed by the Military Justice system.

Vote 1 – Salary and Personnel:

• Approval and funding was received from the Centre to staff the legal researcher position (EC-02) during FY 2010-2011. The CMJ did not support the staffing of this position at the EC-02 group and level as it would not yield candidates with the essential depth and breadth of experience required to fulfil the extensive level of responsibility inherent to the position requirements in support of an experienced judiciary. The position was further reviewed and has been classified at the EC-03 group and level. Due to the activities of the position, coupled with the Strategic Review and amendments to the staffing policies, the staffing of this position remains outstanding. Although the position is funded, it, regrettably, remains vacant.
• The CS-02 and ST-COR-02 positions are also funded but remain vacant due to prolonged difficulties in staffing and classification.

Source : Office of the Chief Military Judge