Courts martial of Canada are

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...

s conducted by the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

. Such courts martial are authorized under the

National Defence Act The ''National Defence Act'' (NDA; ; ''LDN'') is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, which is the primary enabling legislation for organizing and funding the military of Canada. The Act created the Department of National Defence, which merged th ...

. Civilians with a military unit also become subject to the courts-martial system. Most commonly, courts martial are convened to try members of the Canadian military for criminal violations of the

Code of Service Discipline The Code of Service Discipline (CSD) is the basis of the Canadian Forces military justice system. The CSD is designed to assist military commanders in maintaining discipline, efficiency, and morale within the Canadian Forces (CF). It is found in Pa ...

, which is the Canadian military's criminal code. The constitutionality of military courts martial was upheld by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

in ''

R v Généreux ''R v Généreux'', 9921 S.C.R. 259 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision where the Court ruled that that the military court martial system must comply with the constitutional requirements for judicial independence under section 11(d) of ...

'', but changes were mandated to ensure

judicial independence Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inter ...

. It was also determined that off-duty conduct can also fall under a court martial. Since 2014, decisions of Canada's courts martial have been available online. Decisions of Canadian courts martial can be appealed to the

Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada The Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (CMAC) (french: Cour d'appel de la cour martiale du Canada) hears appeals from Courts-martial of Canada (" courts martial"). In Canada, courts martial are presided over by independent military judges fro ...

, a body made up of civilian judges, with a further appeal to the

, by leave of the Supreme Court.

References

External links

Office of the Chief Military Judge
Courts in Canada Military courts Courts martial of Canada {{Canada-law-stub