Supreme Court denies Shilo soldier’s bid for civilian jury review

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This article was published 29/07/2019 (2303 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court has rejected a Manitoba soldier’s bid to have his firearms sentence reviewed by a jury trial.

In a ruling issued July 26, the country’s top court opted against overhauling Canada’s military court-martial system, which prevents soldiers charged with serous crimes from having proceedings held in civilian courts.

A court martial convicted Master Cpl. C.J. Stillman after he got into a fight and shot someone in the thigh with a pistol (at close range) after a night of drinking at CFB Shilo in July 2012.

Stillman was 40 at the time, with roughly 15 years of military service. He was sentenced to six years in prison on five firearms charges that align with Criminal Code offences.

Had Stillman not been a soldier, he likely would have been tried by a jury — and so he appealed his sentence to a military judge on those grounds.

The court martial rejected his appeal, but then a year ago, allowed a Quebec soldier to have a civilian jury trial.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to a jury trial for any offence that could lead to five years or more in jail “except in the case of an offence under military law tried before a military tribunal.”

Last week, five of the seven Supreme Court justices argued changing that rule would require Parliament to amend its laws.

The majority also rejected both soldiers’ argument only charges pertinent to the military, such as espionage or mutiny, should be heard through courts martial, because a previous ruling found soldiers committing civilian crimes still threaten discipline and morale within the military.

Stillman’s original sentence now stands. The Free Press could not reach him Monday for comment.

Proponents of the current system noted the military can more easily arraign suspects from abroad than the civilian justice system.

Those questioning the status quo said it’s less fair to have a handful of military judges decide someone’s guilt than a jury of 12 people who have to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.

The military’s prosecutions director, Col. Bruce MacGregor, told reporters more than 40 cases had already been affected by the dispute. He claimed military prosecutors have laying less severe charges, and transferred some cases to provincial courts, which are already so overburdened they have thrown own cases due to unconstitutional delays.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca