The Judge Advocate General (JAG) serves as legal advisor to the Government of Canada, the Minister of National Defence, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces in matters related to military law and superintends the administration of military justice in the Canadian Armed Forces. Legal officers of the Office of the JAG assist the JAG by providing advice on operational law, administrative law and military justice matters; others serve as military prosecutors and defence counsel before courts martial.
This dataset includes a summary of charges disposed of at court martial for the fiscal periods of 201`9/2020 and 2020/2021. The data is gathered from completed courts martial. A court martial is considered complete when findings have been made in respect of each charge by the military judge or the panel members, and the sentence has been pronounced by the military judge if the accused person has been found guilty.
The court martial – a formal military court presided over by a military judge – is designed to deal with more serious offences. Courts martial are conducted in accordance with rules and procedures similar to those of civilian criminal courts and have the same rights, powers and privileges as a superior court of criminal jurisdiction with respect to all “matters necessary or proper for the due exercise of [their] jurisdiction.