Fiat Justitia: Implications of a Canadian Military Justice Decision for International Justice

In the latest in a series of judgments on the constitutionality of the Canadian military justice system, the Canadian Supreme Court on July 26, 2019 in R. v. Stillman (also frequently referred to in the media as the Beaudry case) upheld the trial of military accused before a court martial panel, as opposed to a civilian jury, for serious civilian criminal offences incorporated into military law. The Court reaffirmed a previous decision that a provision of the National Defence Act incorporating all Canadian civilian criminal offences into service offences was not overly broad under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”), and that the “military nexus” required to ground a rational connection to discipline, efficiency, and morale in the military was simply an accused’s military status (Stillman, para 109).