While French military justice system has often vacillated between the establishment of a special regime for the armed forces and an alignment with the rules of ordinary law, the second option ultimately prevailed. In France, military personnel are under the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, and enjoy the same guarantees as any other person subject to the law. Military justice has been abolished and replaced with a specialized branch of ordinary justice that has jurisdiction over military offences. The Law of 21 July 1982 relating to the Judicial Reorganization of Military Criminal Matters is the first milestone in – and cornerstone of – the progressive incorporation of the military justice system into ordinary law jurisdiction, a process which may be referred to as ‘civilianization’. This process was finalized by the law of 13 December 2011 which enacted the dissolution of the last military court, the Paris Armed Forces Tribunal.

With the decline of the justice system ‘by the Military’, there came the aspiration to build a justice system ‘for the Military’ which could take into account the specificities of the Armed Forces’ missions while providing military personnel with the procedural guarantees offered to ordinary litigants. A few notable procedural exceptions reflect the recognition of the specific nature of the profession of arms.