Program

 

Wednesday 25 June 2025

(Ecole Militaire, CESM - Amphithéâtre Suffren)

 

13.30 : Opening of the Forum
Gwenaël Guyon, Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Military Academy, Univ. Paris Cité
Evert Kleynhans, Stellenbosch University
Nicolas Cornu Thénard, Université Paris Panthéon-Assas, Société de Législation Comparée

 

Parallel session A

(CEMSG - Salle Ste Geneviève)

 

Military justice in wartime: an historical approach

Chair : Raffaella Bianchi

14.00 : The first test of South African military law : the 1914 Afrikaner Rebellion and the execution of Captain Jopie Fourie
Evert Kleynhans, Stellenbosch University
Andries Fokkens, Stellenbosch University

“I never witnessed such law carried out by Britishers before” : Perceptions of the rules and norms of warfare during the 1922 Rand Revolt
Anna la Grange, University of Postdam

14.50 : Questions

15.00 : Break

 

Military justice in WWII

Chair : Evert Kleynhans

15.10 : From London to Paris via Algiers : De Gaulle, the Free French and military justice (1940-1945)
Gwenaël Guyon : Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Military Academy

Women before military justice. The trials against mobilized female workers in the military court of Milan during World War II (1941-1945)
Raffaella Bianchi Riva : Università degli studi di Milano

Fighting war with law : Japanese legal officers and their cases during the Asia-Pacific war, 1937-45
Matthias Zachmann, Freie Universität Berlin

16.00 : Questions

16.10 : Break

 

Military justice in the post-Second World War era

Chair : Gwenaël Guyon

16.20 : Military justice for unusual soldiers ? Trying Belgian ‘gendarmes’ for collaboration at the end of the Second World War
Jonas Campion, Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières

Rape scenarios : the strategy of defence counsel in the trials of Canadian servicemen in Germany, 1945-1946
Yves Tremblay, Canadian Department of National Defense

Military war crimes in historical and comparative perspectives
David Turns, Swedish Defence University

Liberation armies and “their” administration of justice : a critical examination of Umkhonto we Sizwe of the ANC
Louis Makau, Stellenbosch University

17.25 : Questions

 

Parallel session B

(CESM - Amphithéâtre Suffren)

 

History of military courts and military offences

Chair : David Gilles

14.00 : A comparative history of the emergence of councils of war in France and England (c. 1650-1715)
Guillaume Pinet, Université de Québec à Montréal

The English East India Company and summary trials in 19th century
Nishant Gokhale, University of the West of Scotland

Moderniser le crime d’intelligence avec l’ennemi en France
Astrid Donias, Université de Grenoble Alpes

14.50 : Questions

15.00 : Break

 

Military justice and judicial independence

Chair : Alison Duxbury

15.10 : Can uniformed personnel be independent ?
Eugene Fidell, Former President of the National Institute of Military Justice, Yale Law School

Judicial independence in Commonwealth military courts – a work in progress
Capt. Chris Griggs RNZNR (Acting Director of Military Prosecutions, NZ

Should the army be stripped of jurisdiction over criminal sexual offences within its ranks ?
David Gilles, Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Military Academy, University of Sherbrooke

16.05 : Questions

16.10 : Break

 

Special focus : Military justice issues in Africa

Chair : Andries Fokkens

16.20 : Military justice and private military companies in Africa
Christian Angue, Université de Dschang

Maladministration, fraud and corruption in South African Defence procurement : where to in terms of justice, discipline and accountability ?
Lt-Col. Michelle Nel, Stellenbosch University
Ernst Heydenrych, Boston City Campus & Business School

The fight for justice : addressing moral injury compensation for service members in the SANDF
Lt-Col. Sonja Els, Col. Piet Bester, Stellenbosch University

Involuntary referral of a military accused for observation : the dilemma in South African military justice
Lt Cdr Elsie Morake, Stellenbosch University

17.25 : Questions

17.35 : End of discussions - Speakers Cocktail

 

Thursday 26 June 2025

(Sénat – Salle Médicis)

 

Military justice and international law (Part I)

Chair : Kevin Riordan

9.00 : Prosecution of war crimes- conceptualizing past, present and future
Col. Winston Williams, US Military Academy Wespoint
Sophia Zademack, University of Zurich

Violations of international humanitarian law and new technologies : the case of drones in the Russian-Ukrainian war
Nicolas Cuer, French Ministry of Defense, Université de Lille II

High profile : comparative military justice approaches to investigating and accounting for civilian casualties in armed conflict
Brian Lee Cox, Cornell Law School

9.50 : Questions

10.00 : Break

 

Military justice and international law (Part II)

Chair : Alan Large

10.10 : Discussion on international principles governing the administration of justice through military tribunals in South America
Maria Elizabeth Teixeira Rocha, President of the Brazilian Superior Military Court

Military law : between internationalization and nationalization
Clémence Pellissier, PhD st., Trinity College Dublin

Any chance for transitional (restorative) justice for armed conflicts ?
Mario Ferreira Monte, Universidade do Minho

10.55 : Questions

 

Summary hearings and non-judicial punishments

Chair : Maurizio Bloc

11.05 : Military summary hearing system in Canada
Pascal Levesque, PhD, former military lawyer

Nonjudicial punishment
Frank Rosenblatt, Mississippi College, President of the National Institute of Military Justice

11.40 : Questions

 

11.50 : Speakers Lunch

 

Military justice in its operational context

Chair : Sonja Els

13.45 : British military justice in its recent operational context
Lt Cdr Nick Fryer, Legal advisor, British Royal Navy

Military justice in its operational context : the emergence of the notion of ‘Lawfare’ in modern conflictuality
Laurent Drouvot, Université de Toulon, Judicial Police Officer

14.20 : Questions

14.30 : Break

 

The reform of military justice : global perspectives (Part I)

Chair : Michelle Nel

14.40 : The Commonwealth military justice transformation project
HHJ Alan Large, Judge Advocate General of His Majesty’s Armed Forces, UK

The reform of military justice in Luxembourg
Ernest Nilles, Diekirch State Prosecutor, Luxembourg

Historical and future-looking aspects of New Zealand’s military justice system
Chief Judge Kevin Riordan, Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces of New Zealand

Addressing undesirable behavior in the Netherlands Armed Forces : a paradigm shift from institutionalized discipline to integrity as a virtue ?
Lt-Col. Yvette Foliant, Netherlands Defence Academy

15.45 : Questions

15.55 : Break

 

The reform of military justice : global perspectives (Part II)

Chair : Franklin Rosenblatt

16.05 : The principle of open justice and military courts
Alison Duxbury, University of Melbourne

The Italian military codes in the view of new reforms
Maurizio Block, Military Prosecutor General at the Italian Court of Cassation

Military justice in Belgium
Jens Claerman, Belgian Ministry of Defense
Pieter-Jan Tuts, Associate Deloitte Legal

The resurrection mechanism of military jurisdiction in Belgium : institutional aspects and practical difficulties
Nicolas Bernard, Referendary at the Belgian Constitutional Court, UCLouvain

17.10 : Questions

17.20 : Conclusion of the Forum
Eugene Fidell, Former President of the National Institute of Military Justice, Yale Law School

17.35 : Closing of the event

 

 

More information on : militaryjusticeforum@gmail.com

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Colloque organisé par le Centre de recherche St Cyr-Coëtquidan et la SLC