Military Courts

Folks, i'm after your opinions on "Military Courts". Do they do the job a civillian court would do when it comes to crimes such as murder...manslaughter etc? Should these courts be made accountable? Do you feel there is bias?
What has prompted me to write about this is an article that appeared in my towns newspaper this weekend. Two US marines were cleared by the US Military Justice System of the attempted murder of a student here in my town. The student was never even asked to appear in court, nor were any witnesses. Infact the student had no idea of the verdict till 2 days ago, when the local newspaper provided the verdict for him!! Now how on earth can a justice system be effective if the plaintiff and witnesses (3) were not even included?
I'm not having a go at American Courts per se, it just so happened that this is where this occured. I know Military Courts world wide have some serious explaining to do.
till next time, Michelle.