From Military Court too late to try Diggers for deaths of civilians by Mark Dodd, The Australian:
Australia's new Military Court will hear its first cases late next year.
But it will be too late to consider charges against three special forces soldiers over civilian deaths in Afghanistan.
The former members of the Special Operations Task Group face a range of charges including one count of manslaughter arising from the killing last year of six Afghans, including five children.
The military justice system was thrown into turmoil in May last year when the High Court struck down as unconstitutional the Military Court established in 2007 by the Howard government.
As an interim measure, the Rudd government reintroduced the court martial system.
[ ... ]
Government and legal experts yesterday played down claims that the decision to proceed with a court martial was in response to threatened action by the International Criminal Court, to which Australia is a signatory.
However, the decision to prosecute the three soldiers in Australia would ensure there would be no ICC indictment, they said.
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