The Military and the Courts: Introduction

• Author: by Captain Stephen J. Kaccynsh
• Pages: 01

Our society has increasingly become a litigious one. Those parties who feel themselves injured or disappointed by the action or inaction of another are more and more often likely to resort to the legal processes far redress of the purported grievance. The resulting litigation has ranged from the absurditv of a lawsuit over the call of a high school football referee to the seriousness of the discovery of a tort for "wrongful life."

The federal government in general and the military in particular have not been immune to this litigious trend. In lawsuits challenging the military justice system or military administrative procedures, or in cases initiated by the military to recoup medical costs incurred by the United States, the judge advocate may increasingly be faced with the delivery of legal advice concerning matters that had been at least infrequent, and possibly alien, to that attorney only a short while ago,

In this issue, the Miltlaq, Lni~

Review has collected articles dealing wth the subject of the military and the courts In the lead article, Cz~~linn

Courts and the Military Jwtzce Sgslem. Collnleral RPLZPU. of Courts-Martial. the author discusses the history and legal de\ eiopment of the mrolrement of the federal civilian courts in the renew of the miiitarypstice system. The lack of a umform approach among the federal courts to the proper scope of review to be accorded determinations of the military justice sysrem IS noted and a standard approach is posited

Militaq administrative decisions may also become the subject of challenge by those allegedly aggrieied by them. In The Acailabiltty and Scope qf Judicial Rm,iezr of Discretionary Military Administiafiw D c c L s ~ " ~ . the author attempts to construct a framework within which such administrative decisions may be reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the degree to which the discretion of the militan departments should be respected by the reviewing court

The degree to nhch the .4dministrative Procedure Act should apply at all to the military departments IS studied in the third article. In The Administraliw Procedure Act and lhe lMililary Departments, the author analyzes the Structure of the Act and its exceptions and attempts IO predict the most...