At one time South Africa was seen as having the best legal system in the world. I imagine it is one of the worst now.
Many years ago, F. Lee Bailey said the military system of justice is better. When asked how, he said they are more likely to find the guilty, guilty and the innocent, not guilty. My JAG Colonel nephew agrees with that.
Despite all the Arlen Spector jokes I like the Scottish system. They have three possible verdicts. Not Guilty, which means they don’t think you did it: Not Proven Guilty: which means the jury thinks you did it but there was no enough evidence to convict.
The other is Not Guilty and we really think you didn’t do it. Sort of a clearing of your name.
I left out Guilty and put in Not Guilty twice in my sort of rough summation of Scottish verdicts.
Guilty means we know you did it and have nod doubt at all.
I agree completely about the military justice system. It is the best possible court if you are innocent, or have reasonable justification. And it is also the worst possible court to appear before if you are guilty.
But add to that, the purpose of a military court is *not* justice, but “to maintain good order and discipline in the military.” And that is night and day from a civilian court.
For example, a homicide in a brawl, heat of anger, or many other circumstances, might only merit 3 or 4 years in prison. But someone who molests a child could get 15 or 20 years, because the latter is seen as very harmful to military morale.
And there are other things that really matter in a military court. For example, with the permission of the president of the court, any member of the court can ask *anyone* a question. This includes attorneys, witnesses, and anyone else appearing before the court, even if they are seated in the gallery.
This means that most of the razzle dazzle that civilian attorneys try in civilian court is right out the window. Attorneys try that stuff in a military court and the members of the court will chew them up and spit them out.
It also means that witnesses for one side might be grilled by the members of the court in such a way that they give better testimony to the other side. And bad attitude, or heaven help you, perjury, could end up with you wearing irons in short order.
It is downright refreshing to see unvarnished honesty in court, and the wicked nailed on the spot. No games. No Latin. No cheating.
Punishment wise, what’s the difference between Not Guilty and Not Proven guilty?
I like that - thanks for sharing.