(Ottawa) The Director of Military Prosecutions expects about 30 sexual misconduct cases where charges have already been laid to remain in the military justice system.
Col. Dylan Kerr, who heads the Canadian Military Prosecution Service, said the estimate was based on consultations with victims, since Louise Arbor recommended to the government that military police transfer these files to civilian authorities.
In an “interim recommendation”, the retired Supreme Court judge recommended in October that all sexual criminal cases in the Canadian Armed Forces, including cases “of a historical nature”, be referred to civilian authorities. Mme Arbor included files that were already under investigation, unless it was “nearing completion”. This interim recommendation was accepted last month by the new Defense Minister, Anita Anand.
In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press, Prosecutor Kerr said military police are now working on transferring sexual misconduct investigations to civilian counterparts and that he does not anticipate more such cases landing in his office.
But Col Kerr says there are 29 cases in which such charges have been laid and that victims in all of those cases have so far agreed to prosecute within the military justice system.
Me Kerr maintains that he is not surprised that the victims chose to stick with the military system, because even before Mr.me Arbor, these women had already had several opportunities to bring their case before a civil criminal court.
He also believes there are risks of moving cases from one system to another when charges have already been laid – including the possibility of additional delays, as courts in provinces like Ontario experience delays. .