By Canadian Press

Federal Court to hear arguments in top military judge’s stalled court martial

Sep 4, 2019 | 12:44 PM

OTTAWA — The Federal Court will hear arguments next month as prosecutors try to break a stalemate in the stalled court martial of Canada’s top military judge.

Col. Mario Dutil is facing four charges over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and signed a travel claim that contained false information.

The unprecedented trial ground to a halt in June after only a few days of hearings when the presiding judge, Lt.-Col. Louis-Vincent d’Auteuil, Dutil’s deputy, removed himself over conflict-of-interest concerns.

The case was left in limbo when d’Auteuil outlined similar the reasons for why he believed the military’s other three sitting judges would not be able to preside over Dutil’s trial in an impartial manner.

Military prosecutors, who have defended their decision to press forward with a court martial rather than sending the case to civilian court, subsequently asked the Federal Court to overturn that decision and order d’Auteuil to appoint a judge to hear the case, which the court agreed to today.

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The court is scheduled to hear arguments on Oct. 15.

The Canadian Press