ASG Aishwarya Bhati named member of Commonwealth military justice body

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) of India Aishwarya Bhati has been named a member of the global consultation group of the Commonwealth, an international body that promotes democracy, good governance, peace, and the rule of law..ASG Bhati becomes the second Indian to be part of the global military justice body. Advocate (Major) Navdeep Singh, practicing primarily at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was appointed earlier this year to the five-member Military Justice Advisory Committee constituted by the Commonwealth Secretariat..Bhati is a Senior Advocate, who practices primarily at the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court. She represented the petitioners in the case that lead to the landmark judgment granting permanent commission to women armed forces officers. .In the past, Aishwarya Bhati, as senior counsel, and Navdeep Singh have worked together on issues concerning service jurisprudence, tribunals and the military.Bhati has also contributed a chapter on women in the military as part of the book “March to Justice: Global Military Law Landmarks”, edited by Singh..The Commonwealth is an international body that comprises 56 nations.The Commonwealth Secretariat is also considering coming up with model military justice principles.There have been strides earlier in the field of military justice, including the United Nations Principles Governing the Administration of Justice Through Military Tribunals (known as ‘the Decaux Principles’). These principles were improved upon at a meeting held at the Yale Law School, which was attended by global jurists and UN representatives in March 2018, resulting in the Yale Draft.The focus of the principles has been on ensuring independence, competence, and impartiality of military justice processes.