National Defence Act — N-5 202.201
Procedure at disposition hearing 202.201 (1) A hearing by a court martial to make or review a disposition in respect of an accused person shall be held in accordance with this section and the regulations. Hearing to be informal (2) The hearing may be conducted in as informal a manner as is appropriate in the circumstances. Interested person may be party (3) The court martial may designate as a party any person who has a substantial interest in protecting the accused person’s interests, if the court martial is of the opinion that it is just to do so. Notice of hearing — parties (4) The court martial shall give notice of the hearing to the parties. Notice of hearing — victim (5) The court martial shall, at the request of a victim of the offence, give the victim notice of the hearing and of the relevant provisions of this Act. Notice of release from custody and intended place of residence (6) If the accused person is released from custody without conditions under paragraph 202.16(1)(a) or with conditions under paragraph 201(1)(a) or 202.16(1)(b), a notice of the release and the accused person’s intended place of residence shall, at the victim’s request, be given to the victim within the time and in the manner fixed by regulations. Order excluding public (7) If the court martial considers it to be in the accused person’s best interests and not contrary to the public interest, it may order the public or any members of the public to be excluded from the hearing or any part of it. Right to counsel (8) The accused person or any other party has the right to be represented by counsel. Assigning counsel (9) A court martial shall, either before or at the time of the hearing of an accused person who is not represented by counsel, direct that counsel be provided by the Director of Defence Counsel Services if the accused person has been found unfit to stand trial or the interests of military justice require that counsel be provided. Right of accused person to be present (10) Subject to subsection (11), the accused person has the right to be present during the entire hearing. Removal or absence of accused person (11) The court martial may permit the accused person to be absent during the entire hearing or any part of it on any conditions that the court martial considers appropriate. The court martial may also cause the accused person to be removed and barred from re-entry for the entire hearing or any part of it for any of the following reasons: (a) the accused person is interrupting the hearing and it is not feasible to continue it in the accused person’s presence; (b) the court martial is satisfied that the accused person’s presence would likely endanger the life or safety of another person or would seriously impair the treatment or recovery of the accused person; or (c) the court martial is satisfied that the accused person should not be present for the hearing of evidence, oral or written submissions, or the cross-examination of any witness respecting the existence of grounds for removing the accused person under paragraph (b). Rights of parties at hearing (12) Any party may adduce evidence, make oral or written submissions, call witnesses and cross-examine any witness called by any other party and, on application, cross-examine any person who made an assessment report that was submitted in writing to the court martial. Witnesses (13) A party may not compel the attendance of witnesses, but may request the court martial to do so. Video links (14) If the accused person agrees, the court martial may permit them to appear by closed-circuit television or any other means that allows the court martial and the accused person to engage in simultaneous visual and oral communication, for any part of the hearing, so long as the accused person is given the opportunity to communicate privately with counsel if they are represented by counsel. Determination of mental condition of accused person (15) A court martial that reviews a disposition shall, on re