The Wire

The Government has announced that a new federal judiciary, the Military Court of Australia, will open for cases in late 2011. It’s a radical reshaping of Australia’s federal court system, and follows the High Court’s August 2009 decision to abolish the Australian Military Court on constitutional grounds. For one, the limited tenure of judges created issues over impartiality. It’s the latest push for an independent military judiciary, but while release of the full legislation is still pending, the Australian Defense Association is concerned the new court has no provisions for trial by jury.