[Panel Session] Military Justice: Reflections and Learnings

An interactive online panel session titled "Military Justice: Reflections and Learnings" will be held on 6 June, 2022 at 7:30 pm.

The session will involve exchange of ideas and discuss best practices, experiences and recommendations with seasoned global voices in military justice.

It will be a free-flowing discussion on aspects of military justice with focus on independence & fairness in administration of justice, adherence to the principles of International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR), the expectations from Judge Advocate General (JAG) or legal officers serving the military, and other related matters.

The event is a collaborative effort between the National Institute of Military Justice (NIMJ) in Washington DC and Punjab University (PU).

NIMJ is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 dedicated to the fair administration of justice in the armed forces and improved public understanding of military justice. PU, Chandigarh is one of India's oldest universities, tracing its history to 1882.

The panelists of the session will be:

Professor Eugene Fidell is currently an adjunct professor at the New York University Law School. He graduated from the Queens College and Harvard Law School, and has served as a Judge Advocate in the United States Coast Guard. He has authored many books on military law and is a proponent of global military justice reform.

General Jan Peter Spijk is a former officer of the Netherlands Army and senior military judge in the Military Chamber of the Court of Appeals. He served as Director Personnel Policy in the Ministry of Defence and at NATO’s Allied Command Operations.

Colonel Rory Fowler served in the Canadian Forces for 28 years, first in the infantry and then as a Legal Officer with the JAG, and currently practices law. Colonel Fowler is an active commentator on military law issues and takes keen interest in the unique constitutional and statutory relationship between the State and the soldier.

Brigadier James Johnston commissioned into the Army Legal Services of the British Army. He has served as the Deputy Director of Army Legal Services and Head of Advisory Law at British Army Headquarter. Since September 2020, Brigadier Johnston has sat as a Decision Body and Senior Legal Counsel in the Army’s internal service complaint process.

The session will be moderated by Professor Franklin Rosenblatt, Professor Shruti Bedi and Major Navdeep Singh.

Prof Rosenblatt teaches law at the Mississippi College School of Law and is also a Judge of the Military Court of Appeals at Mississippi.

Prof Bedi teaches at the University Institute of Legal Studies at PU, and is an International Fellow at the NIMJ.

Major Navdeep is a practicing lawyer and is also an International Fellow at the NIMJ and a member of the International Society of Military Law and the Law of War.

Prof Rachel VanLandingham, the President of NIMJ will make a presidential address, and the closing remarks will be rendered by Prof Deepti Gupta.

The session will be live-streamed here, and questions to the panelists will also be entertained.

Note: Bar & Bench Desk Editor, Shagun Suryam will deliver the introductory remarks at the session.