When a Rose is Not a Rose: Military Commissions v. Courts-Martial

Abstract

The Military Commissions Act developed a judicial system based upon that of General Courts-Martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The military commissions will use many of the same personnel and share some procedures with general courts-martial, but certain aspects show them to be very dissimilar. Specifically: the revised evidentiary rules on coerced statements, hearsay and classified evidence; the lack of speedy trial rights; the absence of a formal pre-trial investigation; and the failure to apply case law precedent. These differences will have significant secondary effects on the process that are not favourable to a defendant. As a result of both the primary and secondary effects of the differences, the commissions will provide significantly less due process to unlawful combatants than the general court-martial process will provide to their lawful combatant counterparts.