Hi there. Back here in Turkey the Turkish government just passed a new law saying that Military should be tried by Civilian Courts on all matters. This is quite interesting since Military already has their own courts...

Question : Should the Military be tried by Civilian Courts or Military Courts?

Question : If above answer is Civilian ; why?

Question: If answer is Military ; Why?

Question: How is it in your country?

A copper for your thoughts...

Why should a military operation be tried in Civilian court if most operations dealt with by the military are classified enough to an extent they are not viewed by the public? That goes against [american] rights by withholding evidence to a case in which they cannot try by simple fact they cannot, regardless of situation obtain all evidence required to convict or find innocent an individual.

Isn't CIA a civilian establishment thus tried by civilian courts?

the CIA is a government funded "civilian" organization in the government. Good luck winning one of those cases with actual evidence point to the correct personel involved.

I gotta agree with Bartuc... almost all the information military personnel is classified.

I talked to my brother about it and even conversations about where to have lunch over e-mail are classified and can't be spoken of to civilians, so it would be very hard to reveal evidence when the jury doesn't have proper clearance to hear the evidence.

Like, say a soldier is killed... his patrol routs can't be brought up in a civilian court, since most of the time, a patrol rout would be classified information.

Originally Posted by Kaze-bear

I gotta agree with Bartuc... almost all the information military personnel is classified.

I talked to my brother about it and even conversations about where to have lunch over e-mail are classified and can't be spoken of to civilians, so it would be very hard to reveal evidence when the jury doesn't have proper clearance to hear the evidence.

Like, say a soldier is killed... his patrol routs can't be brought up in a civilian court, since most of the time, a patrol rout would be classified information.

I've never heard of not being able to discuss something like where you're going to have lunch-I think that's a bit farfetched-or at the least, happens in only certain circumstances.

That said, I think military members should be tried in military courts, except in certain, specific situations. Military members are representatives of our country and should be held to a higher standard. The UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) does that. As has been noted, there are times when facts surrounding the case may be classified. In those cases, the MM can't be judged fairly if all the facts can't be disclosed. Also, there are things that MM may be required to do that civilians just aren't going to understand.

Actually, according to my brother every single e-mail is encrypted, no matter how basic it is and is classified. Even if it's just about where to have lunch (he's in Iraq might I add). He said that he's not even allowed to tell us a word of what they say without clearance.

But as you said though even if it only happens in certain circumstances that means that in some instances if in a trial where classified information is involved, civilians will be unable to access certain information in order to make it a fair trial, whereas in a military court, everyone who is there would have clearance.

Originally Posted by Kaze-bear

Actually, according to my brother every single e-mail is encrypted, no matter how basic it is and is classified. Even if it's just about where to have lunch (he's in Iraq might I add). He said that he's not even allowed to tell us a word of what they say without clearance.

But as you said though even if it only happens in certain circumstances that means that in some instances if in a trial where classified information is involved, civilians will be unable to access certain information in order to make it a fair trial, whereas in a military court, everyone who is there would have clearance.

Yes, being in Iraq makes a big difference. Security is a must, I'm sure. It could cost lives if the enemy were to find out where a bunch of troops were going to meet for lunch at one time. I only mentioned what I did as I didn't want it thought that everything MM's do and say is classified. I can only imagine how careful I'd have to be if I were still in the military and working where I did years ago when I was in.

There are just some things that civilians shouldn't be judging MMs on. Often times, circumstances just aren't the same as in the civilian world. No matter how hard some may try to say that it's just a job, it really isn't. It's a way of life.

By the military. Civilians dont live the live military families do. I think they should police their own.

Depends on the situation. I'm thinking that the military should be tried in the military court only on non-civilian matters. Otherwise, civilian court.