Military Justice System Modernization Act

This bill overhauls significant parts of Canada's military justice system, largely in response to independent reviews that identified problems with independence and handling of sexual offences within the Canadian Armed Forces.

The biggest substantive change is that military police and courts martial will no longer investigate or try Criminal Code sexual offences (like sexual assault, child sexual abuse material, voyeurism, and related crimes) when they are alleged to have happened in Canada. These cases must now go to civilian police and civilian courts instead, though military members can still make arrests or preserve evidence in urgent situations before civilian authorities arrive. The government must also review how this change works out within three years and report to Parliament.

The bill also strengthens the independence of key military justice officials. The Canadian Forces Provost Marshal is renamed the "Provost Marshal General" and, along with the Director of Military Prosecutions and the Director of Defence Counsel Services, gets fixed, non-renewable terms, formal removal procedures involving a judicial inquiry, and clearer separation from ministerial control except for public, written general instructions. The law also explicitly states that the Judge Advocate General must respect the independence of these other military justice authorities. Military judges are removed from the "summary hearing" disciplinary system entirely and can no longer be charged with, or judge, minor service infractions, reinforcing their judicial independence. The pool of people eligible to become military judges is also widened.

Other changes give more people the ability to file complaints if someone interferes with military police work, and in some cases require military police to file such complaints. Victims of service offences get expanded rights to have a "liaison officer" appointed to help them, even when requested by someone acting on the victim's behalf. Finally, the bill updates and aligns the military's sex-offender registration and publication-ban rules with recent changes to the Criminal Code, including allowing people to apply to civilian superior courts for exemptions from, or changes to, sex-offender registration orders that were originally made under military law.

This bill amends the National Defence Act to restructure appointment, tenure and oversight processes for senior military justice officials, remove court martial jurisdiction over certain sexual offences committed in Canada, and create new procedures for sex offender registration orders, exemptions and victim liaison support within the military justice system.

• New/renamed offices and appointments — creates the Provost Marshal General (renamed from Canadian Forces Provost Marshal), appointed by the Governor in Council (Cabinet) for up to four years, held "during pleasure"; the Director of Military Prosecutions and Director of Defence Counsel Services are appointed the same way for non-renewable terms of up to seven years, held "during good behaviour" and removable only after an inquiry process.
• Investigative and prosecutorial authority removed — the Canadian Armed Forces loses authority to investigate, and courts martial lose jurisdiction to try, Criminal Code sexual offences alleged to have occurred in Canada; military police retain only powers to make arrests, prevent ongoing offences, and preserve evidence before transferring the matter to civilian authorities.
• Ministerial powers over prosecutions — the Minister of National Defence may issue written instructions or guidelines to the Director of Military Prosecutions on general matters or on specific prosecutions, which the Director may delay releasing to the public until the prosecution concludes.
• Inquiry and discipline mechanism — the Minister may request Cabinet to appoint a superior court judge to conduct an inquiry into whether the Director of Military Prosecutions or Director of Defence Counsel Services should be disciplined or removed; the judge has powers to summon witnesses, compel documents, and hold proceedings confidentially where national security, fairness, or personal safety concerns are found; Cabinet decides on removal or discipline based on the judge's report.
• New victim and sex-offender-registry provisions — courts martial must generally order compliance with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act for designated offences, with duration ranging from 10 years to life depending on offence severity and history; new processes allow application for exemption or variation of these orders, decided by military judges or superior courts, with some appeal rights reaching the Court Martial Appeal Court.
• Independent review and parliamentary reporting — within three years of the sexual-offence provisions taking effect, the Minister must commission an independent review of their application, table a report in Parliament within one year after that review begins, and may bring a resolution before Parliament recommending repeal of those provisions if warranted; most provisions take effect on dates set later by order of the Governor in Council rather than immediately.