|
Uruguay Military Justice
According to the constitution of 1967, the military
justice
system had jurisdiction over military offenders who
committed
crimes during wartime; in peacetime the system had
jurisdiction
only over military personnel charged with committing
military
offenses. During the period of military rule, civilians
charged
with crimes against the national security were tried by
military
courts, as were most offenses committed by military
personnel.
The role of the military justice system was greatly
reduced
because of the return to democracy, however, and since
that time
the Supreme Court of Justice has consistently held that in
peacetime, jurisdictional disputes between the parallel
civil and
military court systems should be resolved in favor of the
civil
courts. Whenever the Supreme Court of Justice accepted a
military
case on appeal, the law required that two military judges
serve
on the court on an ad hoc basis.
The Supreme Military Tribunal, which was composed of
five
members, four of whom had to be military field-grade
officers,
was the highest military appeals court for military
offenders.
Beneath it were two military judges of first instance, who
had
original jurisdiction over serious offenses and appellate
jurisdiction over less serious offenses. Those who had
committed
less serious offenses were first tried by lower court
judges.
Data as of December 1990
|
