Restoring victims to their rightful place at the heart of our justice system
June 15, 2015 - Ottawa - Department of National Defence
Today the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of National Defence, introduced legislation to provide victims within the military justice system with the same rights as those contained within the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.
It builds upon the Government’s commitment to give victims of offences a more effective voice within Canada’s justice systems and would create clear statutory rights for victims of service offences within the military justice system.
This proposed legislation would ensure that victims of service offences within the military justice system have the same rights to information, protection, participation and restitution that are already enshrined in the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and makes changes to the Canadian Armed Forces’ court martial and summary trial processes to enable victims of service offences to exercise their rights.
The proposed amendments to the National Defence Act will further enable the military justice system to fulfill its essential mandate of supporting the Canadian Armed Forces’ operational effectiveness, while meeting the expectations of Canadians by contributing to the rule of law and to a just and safe society.
Lauren Armstrong
Press Secretary to the Minister of the Department of National Defence
(613) 996-3100
lauren.armstrong2@forces.gc.ca
Media Relations
Department of National Defence
Phone: (613) 996-2353
Toll-Free: 1 866 377-0811
