MILITARY JUDGE CEREMONY September 2012 - Defence Forces

MILITARY JUDGE CEREMONY
September 2012

MILITARY JUDGE CEREMONY
Minister, Chief of Staff, Members of the Judiciary, distinguished
guests
It is a great honour for me, as Judge Advocate General, pursuant to
the provisions of the Defence Act, 1954 as amended to administer the
Oath of Office to Colonel Campion on the occasion of his
appointment by the President on the advice of the Government as
Military Judge.
I was also honoured to be present at the appointment of his
predecessor Colonel Tony McCourt as the first Military Judge in
September 2007. Colonel McCourt’s appointment was part of a
complete overhaul of the Military Justice system in the Irish Defence
Forces which was carried out as part of Ireland’s obligations
pursuant to the European Convention on Human Rights and to
ensure that every organ of the State operates in a manner compatible
to the Convention and to Bunreacht na hÉireann. The establishment
of an independent military Judicial Office and the appointment of a
Military Judge, independent in the performance of his or her
functions, ensures that our system of Military Justice not only has
regard to the unique requirements and demands of military life but
also has regard to the fundamental right of every individual to fair
procedures.
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The appointment of Colonel Campion represents a further
fundamental milestone in the modernisation of the Military Justice
system in Ireland. While Colonel Campion has personal experience of
service in the reserve Defence Forces and a family background
steeped in military service, he brings to his position the invaluable
experience of a varied legal career outside of the Defence Forces and
within the Civil Justice system. This experience can only re-enforce
the basic tenants underpinning the system of military justice which is
now in place.
During my time as Judge Advocate General I have been hugely
impressed with the depth of legal and academic expertise within the
Defence Forces and it is my hope that Colonel Campion’s
appointment, outside of the exercise of his independent judicial
function which is of course paramount, may offer an opportunity to
his former civilian legal colleagues to share in that bank of learning
perhaps by way of the holding of an annual conference on Military
Law which could be held in the Military Justice Centre here in
McKee Barracks, a truly modern facility.
As Colonel Campion embarks now upon this new phase in his legal
career supported by his wife Angela, and by his children Edward,
Hugh, Michael and Reine, he will, I know, be acutely aware of the
need for him to be truly independent in the performance of his
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functions as Military Judge. The great Thomas Jefferson said that the
four words ‘be just be good’ epitomise the duties of a Judge. In my
humble view, the duties of a Judge go further than that. It is not
enough simply to be just and to be good – a Judge must also do
justice. It takes courage to do justice. The men and women of
Óglaigh na hÉireann in their pursuits both at home and abroad have
always shown courage in the performance of their duties and they
deserve a system of military justice that embraces both the quality of
justice and the quality of courage. The overhaul of our system of
military Justice which has culminated in Colonel Campion’s
appointment has ensured that those men and women will be
properly served and I know that Colonel Campion will follow in the
footsteps of our first Military Judge Colonel Tony McCourt in
endeavouring always to be both good and just in the performance of
his duties and most importantly he will endeavour always to do
justice. In the words of Edmund Burke spoken in 1775, ‘it is not what
a lawyer tells you I may do, but what humanity reason and justice tell me I
ought to do’.
A choirnéal, Guím gach rath ort ins na dualgaisí tábhachta a bheith
ort, go dtuga Dia cabhair agus treoir duit chun iad a chomhlíonadh
mar is cómhair.
Bail ó Dhia ort agus go mara tú do ghradam.
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