Military Discipline Bill [B21 – 2019]

The Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans invites you to make written submissions on the Military Discipline Bill [B21 – 2019].

The Military Discipline Bill seeks to:
• provide for an effective administration of the military justice system and maintenance of discipline in the defence force;
• establish and regulate military courts and the appointment of judicial officers and court officials;
• provide for the appointment of the Judge Advocate General and Provost Marshal General of the defence force;
• provide for administrative processes;
• repeal the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act, 1999;

Comments can be emailed to Mr Bryan Mantyi at [email protected] by no later than Friday, 6 March 2020. The original deadline was 7 February 2020.

Enquiries can be directed to Mr Bryan Mantyi on tel (021) 403 3796 or Cell: 083 709 8428

In addition to the written comments, please indicate your interest in making a verbal presentation.
 
Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans, Mr Cyril Xaba.


Background
The Military Discipline Bill, 2019 (‘‘Bill’’), seeks to provide for effective administration of military justice and maintenance of discipline in the Defence Force. The military is an organisation that by its nature requires command and control by commanders over the members in order to maintain discipline and build a strong force. The Constitution, 1996, requires that the Defence Force be structured and managed as a disciplined military force. The Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act, 1999, has to a certain extent dealt with the discipline matters of the members of the Defence Force. It has since emerged that the aforesaid Act does not adequately deal with all matters of discipline, especially judicial appointment, administration of courts, military police services and the internal disciplinary matters at the unit level. In order to enact legislation that would attend to all matters in one package, the Department of Defence and Military Veterans (‘‘Department’’) has therefore embarked on the process of drafting the Bill to fill the vacuum left by the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act, 1999.