Drumhead court-martial

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.

A drumhead court-martial is the military version of a kangaroo court. The name comes from the use of an actual drumhead as an improvised judges bench on the battlefield. It refers to a hastily summoned court-martial consisting of either incompetent or non-neutral members, where the accused is either not allowed to have lawyers or the prosecutors also act as judges, and where the accused is presumed guilty from the outset. The outcome of a drumhead court-martial is usually execution by firing squad. In the past, such courts-martial have ordered lashings or hangings to punish soldiers (and their officers) who were cowardly, disobedient – or conversely, acted rashly; and especially as a discouragement to drunkenness^[1].