Review of Alison Duxbury and Matthew Groves (eds), 'Military Justice in the Modern Age' (Cambridge, 2016)

Injustice can have serious consequences for an individual. Ill-discipline in the military can have disastrous consequences for society. The Mutiny Act of 1689 immediately followed the Glorious Revolution because, despite the deep parliamentary mistrust of standing armies after the English Civil War, Jacobite forces threatened and a standing army seemed indispensable. This was the beginning of parliamentary discipline legislation in the common law world. The Preamble to the Act clearly stated the tensions at play . ... whereas no man may be forejudged of life or limb, or subjected to any kind of punishment by martial law, or in any other manner than by the judgment of his peers and according to the known and established laws of this realm; yet nevertheless, it being requisite for retaining such forces as are or shall be raised during this exigence of affairs in their duty [that] an exact discipline be observed, and that soldiers who shall mutiny or stir up sedition or shall desert their majesties' service be brought to a more exemplary and speedy punishment than the usual forms oflaw will allow.