Nearly 2,000 proceedings are handled each year by the military judicial authorities. Yet military justice remains largely unfamiliar to the general public, as well as to many legal practitioners who rarely have the opportunity to appear before this specialised jurisdiction. As Sun Tzu reminds us, any confrontation requires a precise understanding of the terrain, the opponent and one’s own capabilities. The same need for preparation applies to military proceedings. Understanding their rules, actors and challenges is essential to ensuring the effective exercise of the rights of all those involved, particularly when they are unfamiliar with the functioning of the military institution. Such knowledge also contributes to safeguarding equality of arms. Beyond the outcome of the trial, understanding how the proceedings unfold is also essential to maintaining trust in the justice system. It enables the parties and victims to understand the decisions taken, assert their rights and, ultimately, feel that justice has been done.
This project aims to make military justice more accessible by presenting its main mechanisms, the rights of the parties and victims, and the specific features of military proceedings. It also examines offences connected with service commitments undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, placing them in perspective with the obligations arising from civilian service and civil protection service.
Webinars
- Les citoyen-e-s suisses devant la Justice militaire, Thierry Godel and Nicolas Bloque, Conference (60 min), 28 April 2022, https://youtu.be/g0InQ1FZ1MY
- Guerre en Ukraine : quel sort pour les citoyens suisses engagés ?, Thierry Godel and Nicolas Bloque, Conference (60 min), 12 May 2022, https://youtu.be/Q-DMGSItPE0
- Mobilisation durant la pandémie : quel sort pour les citoyens absents ?, Thierry Godel and Nicolas Wider, Conference, 2 June 2022, https://youtu.be/A0dyXFLAw8M
Journal Articles
- La justice militaire de lege lata, Thierry Godel, Revue pénale suisse, 3/2021, pp. 279-310
- Les lésés en procédure pénale militaire – Analyse et interprétation du droit révisé, Thierry Godel and Laurent Margot, Revue pénale suisse, 1/2021, pp. 3-36
