Checklist · Military & Defence Law
Summary authority hearing: documents and issues checklist (no statement)
A list of the charge, the evidence brief, the election position and the issues for a summary hearing. It does not contain, and is not a place for, the member's account of the facts.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia, Commonwealth
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Australia and Commonwealth.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when preparing an ADF member for a hearing before a summary authority, after the election position is known. Pair it with the election record. Do not use it to draft the member's evidence.
Used for these tasks
- Advise a member on electing trial by court martial or Defence Force magistrate
- Index the investigation and inquiry material for an ADF member
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may index the charge sheet and the brief and list issues the documents raise; the lawyer decides the issues and the member's evidence is not drafted by a tool.
AI may
- Index each document in the brief by date, author and what fact it is said to prove
- List elements of the charged offence that the brief does not appear to address, for the lawyer to check
AI must not
- Must not draft, outline or summarise the member's account of what happened
- Must not prepare a statement, a script, or questions for the member to adopt
- Must not recommend a plea
The lawyer checks
- The election position is recorded and still correct, including a possible during-trial election under s 131
- Each issue is tied to a document in the brief or to a gap in it
- No paragraph in the working papers is the member's evidence written by a tool
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Military & Defence Law
- Screen before a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about Defence
- Disciplinary infringement notice: election checklist (Defence Force Discipline Act)
- Service discipline matter register and material index (ADF member)
- Election to be tried by court martial or Defence Force magistrate: decision record
- Redress of grievance complaint about a service decision (Defence Regulation 2016 Part 7)
- Redress of grievance timetable after the complaint is lodged
- Command review of a senior discipline officer's punishment (DFDA s 9G)
- Brief for a family on an Inspector-General inquiry into a death
- Petition to a reviewing authority for review of a service tribunal conviction or punishment (DFDA s 153)
- Appeal to the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal: time limit and filing checklist
- IGADF inquiry: notices, comment on proposed findings, and who may be told
- Scope of a submission to the Inspector-General of the ADF
All precedents for Military & Defence Law · Tasks and AI use in this area