Civilians under military laws.

Military justice is a distinct legal system that applies to members of armed forces and, in some cases, civilians. Throughout numerous countries and times, including the First and Second World Wars, military courts have been used to adjudicate civilians for a very long time. Examples include the Ancient and Mediaeval Periods, Post-Colonial Periods, and Contemporary Periods. Pakistan, Argentina, Israel, Turkey, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Mali, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia, Iran, India, Cuba, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Bahrain, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Philippines, Syria, Yemen, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia are currently among the countries where civilians are occasionally and in special circumstances subject to military laws. However, the real legal frameworks and processes could be very different.

The Pakistan Army Act of 1952, the Pakistan Air Force Act of 1953, and the Pakistan Navy Ordinance of 1961 were the first pieces of legislation to create military tribunals for the purpose of punishing military personnel in Pakistan. However, there are several provisions and circumstances when the Military Act also applies to civilians. The first modification to Section 2[(d) of the Pakistan Army Act was made by the Defence Services Laws Amendment Ordinance, 1967 (3 of 1967), whereby the persons not otherwise subject to this Act came within the ambit of military laws being civilians and accused of seducing or attempting to seduce any person subject to this Act from his duty or allegiance to Government or having committed, concerning any work of defense, arsenal, naval, military or air force establishment or station, ship or aircraft or otherwise about the naval, military or air force affairs of Pakistan, an offense under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 as well. Under the Army Act of 1952, Civilians, however, can only be prosecuted by federal government order. According to the Army Act, the rules of evidence in proceedings before courts martial are the same as those observed by regular civilian criminal courts. In addition, it is undisputed that, according to Article 10A of the 1973 Constitution, every person has a fundamental right to a fair trial.

There are two issues and defenses in favor of applying military law to civilians. According to one side of the argument, using military courts to try civilians undermines the civil judicial system, raises concerns about due process, transparency, and accountability, and may result in...