ABSTRACT
As long as there have been militaries there have been systems, of some form, of military justice to accompany them. This chapter begins by tracing the history of military justice as it has evolved into modern court systems and then describes the necessary role that they play in a properly functioning military. It then presents of framework of legal subordination, which delineates the degree to which military courts are subordinated to democratic, civilian control. Three distinct systems—full subordination, jurisdictional contestation, and military overreach—are discussed in detail, along with the political ramifications of each. The chapter concludes by presenting evidence from the authors' newly created dataset on military justice. Overall, military legal subordination has increased over time. More countries have reined in the use of military courts as a shield of impunity, and the use of military courts to try civilians has declined significantly since the end of the Cold War. Nevertheless, even today many countries have military justice systems with expansive jurisdiction or troubled practices, where civilian governments do not have firm control over the military's legal prerogatives.
