While military police are working to transfer
sexual misconduct investigations to civilian authorities, the Canadian Armed Forces’ top prosecutor says he expects nearly 30 cases in which charges have already been laid will proceed to court martial.
Retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour called in October for the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service to transfer criminal investigations involving allegations of sexual misconduct to civilian authorities unless they were close to completion.
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In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press, Col. Dylan Kerr, the director of military prosecutions, said military police are now in discussions with civilian counterparts about handing over investigations.
As a result, he said: “We are not anticipating any new charges of sexual assault of Criminal Code offences of a sexual nature that fall into (Arbour’s) recommendation to be laid in the military justice system. So there’s kind of a stop valve there.”
Yet Arbour’s recommendation did not mention cases where charges have already been laid, and Kerr said there are 29 such files that he expects will continue to be handled by the military justice system ...