Court Martial

By Lex, on Mon – February 14, 2005

In the Royal Navy, courts martial are far more common than they are over here. I’m told the Brits will convene a court martial at the drop of a hat (or the loss of an airplane) – we tend to prefer administrative procedures: Mishap investigations, boards of inquiry, Judge Advocate General Manual investigations. Now, the last two procedures can forward a court martial recommendation to a convening authority, but absent a violent crime, are unlikely to do so.

The Brits I’m told, favor their system – since the court martial is so much more common, little odium inherently attaches to the process. And, having been found not guilty of charges in a legal forum, the accused can now claim the mantle of innocence.

Credo

"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me."

— John Paul Jones

"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature"

— George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

— Friedrich Nietzsche

"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."

— Edmund Burke

"Μολὼν λαβέ"

— Leonidas

"Blogito Ergo Sum"

— Neptunus Lex