New Delhi: Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati has been appointed member of the Commonwealth military justice body, ThePrint has learnt. This makes her only the second Indian to be a part of the group, said people aware of the matter.
In January this year, Punjab & Haryana High Court lawyer Major Navdeep Singh (Retd) was made a part of the five-member advisory committee on military justice of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Now, the Commonwealth has further constituted a global consultation group on the recommendations of the advisory committee, of which Bhati has been made a member, sources told ThePrint.
Bhati has worked on military-related issues in the past and represented petitioners in the case which authorised ‘permanent commission’ to women officers of the defence services.
She has also fought for women’s and children’s rights, rights of persons with disabilities and has been a crusader in anti-tobacco litigation.
Before becoming the ASG, Bhati also worked with Navdeep Singh on issues related to service jurisprudence, tribunalisation and the military.
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Military justice
Established in 1965, the Commonwealth Secretariat is an intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth comprising 56 nations. It seeks to facilitate consultation and cooperation among member governments and countries. The body also seeks to promote democracy, good governance, peace and the rule of law.
The advisory committee, under the Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform (OCCJR), will deal with requests from member countries for assisting them in military justice reform and legislative transformation.
It is currently working on the draft of the Commonwealth Military Justice Principles on which the Consultation Group would be giving its inputs.
There have been earlier strides in the field of military justice, prominent among them being the United Nations Principles Governing the Administration of Justice Through Military Tribunals (known as ‘the Decaux Principles’) which were further improved upon at a meeting held at the Yale Law School attended by global jurists and UN representatives in March 2018 resulting in the “Yale Draft”.
The focus of the principles has been on ensuring independence, competence and impartiality of military justice processes.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)