Advise a member on representations before a prosecution decision
Key facts
- Human involvement
- RedLawyer-led
- How AI is used
- From the brief of evidence and any proposed charges, list the elements the brief appears to address, the witnesses, and any defence the papers already disclose. Do not write the representations and do not express a view on prospects or the service interest.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer applies the Director of Military Prosecutions' two-part test, reasonable prospects of conviction on admissible evidence and the service interest in maintaining good order and discipline, and writes any representations. The lawyer checks the factors the policy says must not influence the decision.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Supporting preparation only. From the brief of evidence and any proposed charges, list the elements the brief appears to address, the witnesses, and any defence the papers already disclose. Do not write the representations and do not express a view on prospects or the service interest. The tool writes nothing into the document. Substantive advice, judgement and any restricted content remain with the responsible human. |
| Lawyer | Perform the substantive analysis and decisions. Independently check any permitted supporting work and approve the exact output for its intended use. |
Checklist
- Confirm the advice uses the policy's test: admissible evidence with reasonable prospects of conviction beyond a prima facie case, then the service interest.
- Confirm the representations do not ask the Director to weigh race, religion, sex, personal feelings, embarrassment to command, or a wish to be tried in order to clear a name. The policy says those are not reasons to prosecute.
- Confirm time limits against the Act. The policy states that section 96 of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 sets five years for most service offences other than section 61 offences, and that after a person ceases to be a member charges must be preferred within six months and only where the maximum penalty is imprisonment for two years or more.
- Confirm the mode of trial is described as the Director's decision, and that any superior-authority comment is treated as an input under the policy's account of section 5A, not as a direction.
Sources
- Director of Military Prosecutions Prosecution Policy (2026) · 2026-10-22
- Department of Defence: Military justice system · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.
Section 96 and section 5A were taken from the prosecution policy's account of the Act. Confirm the sections in the Act before relying on the figures.