Another Kind of Justice: Canadian Military Law from Confederation to Somalia

J.L. Granatstein, distinguished research professor emeritus of history
at York University, is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and
co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influential Canadians of the
20th Century and Prime Ministers: Ranking

Canadian military justice—or the lack thereof—has been much in the
news recently. The Somalia inquiry and a succession of courts-martial,
inquiries, and commissions have focused on the problems that arise when
the Judge Advocate General’s branch is not seen to be competently
administered or when the military police are adjudged to be less than
impartial. Media reports, often sensationalist, have made matters worse.
What has been lacking in all this is a calm but critical overview.

Madsen’s book provides this much-needed perspective. A historian,
Madsen takes a long view of Canadian military justice. His study goes
back to Confederation and traces the development of military law through
the two world wars and after. He shows the British origins of the
Canadian system and dissects the changes made in the National Defence
Act after World War II. His last chapter illustrates what went wrong and
why in Somalia, and he is very critical of the military, the
politicians, and the commissions that examined the workings of the
military justice system. “Military justice,” he quotes French Prime
Minister Clemenceau, “is to justice what military music is to
music.” The dissonance is all too obvious through history, and while
soldiers in the field cannot be judged the way jaywalkers are in
Edmonton, there are certain elemental rights that need to be present.
Madsen’s able study should be read by the defence minister, the chief
of the defence staff, and especially by the Judge Advocate General at
National Defence Headquarters.