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Description:
BOOK REVIEW
RANT ON COURT MARTIAL AND SERVICE LAW
Third Edition
By HHJ JEFF BLACKETT
ISBN: 978-0-19-953468-5
Oxford University Press
www.oup.com
THE DEFINITIVE WORK OF REFERENCE ON COURT MARTIAL AND SERVICE LAW
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
As the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, observes in the foreword, this monumental work is ’a comprehensive account of every aspect of the law about the Court Martial which affects or applies to those serving in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces.’
If you are involved with any aspect of the military or with court martial, or you are called upon to advise in this area, this is the definitive and most authoritative work of reference on the subject and very relevant to the modern advocate.
In the words of the author, His Honour Judge Jeff Blackett, this new updated and re-written third edition is essentially a legal practitioner’s guide to criminal and disciplinary proceedings in the Armed Forces, the first two editions having been written by Blackett’s predecessor, James Rant.
The significance of the new edition is that it follows the coming into force of the Armed Forces Act 2006 on 31 October 2009, a piece of legislation referred to by Judge Blackett as ‘the most significant change to the Services Justice System since the Service Discipline Acts in the mid-1950s’ .
Having established a single prosecuting authority, the Act also established the Court Martial as a standing court under proper independent judicial control, thus eliminating the many differences and inconsistence that had once existed between the Services. Although almost completely rewritten in the light of such changes, the book reflects and retains, in Blackett’s words, ‘the essence of James Rant’s achievements’.
The book, although with the appearance of a daunting tome, will be of interest to the general reader as well as to the practitioner, with it’s historical perspective on military justice throughout the ages offered in the introduction in which it is pointed out that every military or naval force throughout the ages has needed to create and make use of a dedicated system of military justice. Discipline and its enforcement were and will remain, a “fundamental element of command and prerequisite of operational efficiency”.
Anyone who remembers historical accounts of disciplined forces overcoming undisciplined ones, even though vastly outnumbered, will, we think, agree.
In particular, the book is intended for practitioners as their first point of reference, also aiming to provide -- in over 500 pages -- background information to assist those new to practice in the Armed Forces system.
The contents include: the service environment…arrest, custody investigation legal and miscellaneous orders… commanding officers’ investigation, and summary hearing… the Court Martial… civilians… sentencing powers… appeals and reviews and the effect of the European Convention on Human Rights on the Services Justice System. There are extensive tables of cases, legislation and conventions, treaties, etc. and eight appendices.
All those involved in the administration of Court Martial and Service Law would do well to acquire this admirable and indispensible book which is the clear definitive work of reference for ‘service’ law.
ISBN: 978-0-19-953468-5
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