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Where the offence is both an offence in Civil and Military law, Civil law takes precedence. So there isn't a choice. The Defence Acts allow for any individual to appeal the results of a court martial to civil courts. This arose after an Irish soldier murdered 3 of his collegues in the Leb back in the early 80's (Civil law didn't apply as they weren't in Ireland). At the time, the only punishment the military courts could hand down if found guilty was death (the Defence Acts don't leave much room for choice) and we didn't really want to start handing out death sentances so a law was passed that allowed recourse to the civil courts.
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