Office of the Chief Military Judge - DPR - 2013-14

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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 in 1997. 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.

Military judges speak to a number of internal and external audiences, including venues such as lectures delivered to universities and participation in the Gale Cup Moot competition. 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) 2013-14, the military judges participated in National Judicial Institute courses, the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the Canadian Bar Association Judge’s Forum.

Results achieved in FY 2013-14

  • Completed review of Court Reporter Occupation;
  • 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 in National Judicial Institute courses, the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the Canadian Bar Association Judge’s Forum. Two 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.
Financial Resources
($ thousands)

Actual Spending
2011-12

Actual Spending
2012-13

Planned Spending
2013-14

Total Authorities
2013-14

Actual Spending
2013-14

Vote 1 - Salary and Personnel 424 409 637 385 386
Vote 1 - Operating and Maintenance 633 759 645 828 692
Sub-total Vote 1 $1,057 $1,168 $1,282 $1,213 $1,078
Vote 5 – Capital N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Vote 10 - Grants and Contributions N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Grand Total $1,057 $1,168 $1,282 $1,213 $1,078

Sources: Office of the Chief Military Judge and Assistant Deputy Minister (Finance and Corporate Services) Group

Notes: The difference between Planned Spending and Actual Spending for FY 2013-14 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.
  • 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 to staff the legal researcher position (EC-02) during FY 2010-11. 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. The staffing of the position has been completed and a letter of offer was issued in June 2014.

The ST-COR-02 position is also funded but remains vacant due to prolonged difficulties in staffing and classification. The classification review has been completed. The staffing of this position will be completed in FY 2014-15.

Human Resources
Actual
2012–13
Planned
2013–14
Actual
2013–14
Regular Force Structure 11 12 11
Civilian FTEs 6 9 8
TOTAL 17 21 19

Sources: Office of the Chief Military Judge and Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources) Group

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