Military Justice ─ A Very Short Introduction

Few subjects are as important, fast-moving, and little-understood as military justice. This book presents an accessible and honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of military justice in both common law countries and those with other legal traditions, with particular emphasis on the US, UK, and Canada. The military is the rare part of contemporary society that enjoys the privilege of policing the behavior of its own members, with special courts and a separate body of rules. In many respects-what conduct is criminal, who decides which cases should be prosecuted, how is the jury picked, and how judicial independence is protected- military justice differs dramatically from the civilian model. This book illustrates the US military justice system through a comparative view of civilian and foreign models for the administration of justice.

Eugene R. Fidell draws on his experience as a serving officer, private practitioner, and law teacher to present a hard-hitting tour of the field, exploring military justice trends across different countries and what steps should be taken to comply with contemporary human rights standards. He analyzes critical issues, including the response to sexual assault in the armed forces, the challenges of protecting judicial independence, and the effect of social media and modern technology on age-old traditions of military discipline. Military Justice: A Very Short Introduction traces the past and recent trajectory of military justice and identifies future developments, providing a better understanding of the high-profile and occasionally strange military cases that emerge from today's military operations around the world.

Eugene R. Fidell is Senior Research Scholar and Florence Rogatz Visiting Lecturer at Yale Law School and of counsel to the Washington, DC law firm Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP. He served in the United States Coast Guard and co-founded the National Institute of Military Justice. He chairs the Committee on Military Justice of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War and edits the Global Military Justice Reform blog.