Court-Martial

AuthorJeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps

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A tribunal that tries violations of military CRIMINAL LAW. It often refers to the entire military justice process, from actual court proceedings to punishment.

First established in eighteenth-century U.S. law, the court-martial is today the result of tremendous modernization that has made it similar to a trial in federal district court. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, accorded considerable legal protections, and guaranteed the right to appeal. The court-martial is governed by the UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE (10 U.S.C.A. §§ 801?940), a federal law that Congress originally passed in 1950, but that legislators, presidents, and the U.S. Supreme Court have since changed several times. Significant reforms of the court-martial now grant military defendants essentially the same DUE PROCESS rights that are afforded defendants in civilian courts.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice vests in the president of the United States the authority to draft and to amend the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (10 U.S.C.A. §§ 801-946). This document includes a number of procedural rules in the military justice system, including the Rules for Courts-Martial and Military Rules of Evidence. These rules are practiced by judge advocates, who serve as the attorneys in the military justice system. While many of the rules are similar or analogous to procedural rules in the civil justice system, such as the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE, the military rules provide specific rights and procedures that do not have civil counterparts. In 1998, President WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON approved several amendments to the Manual, including those related to pre- and post-trial confinement, trials, sentencing, substantive criminal offenses and defenses, post-trial procedures, and the authority of the Judge Advocate General.

Three levels of courts exist in the military justice system: military trial courts, courts of military review, and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. Courts-martial are handled by the lowest courts, which are presided over by military trial judges who are quite similar to U.S. district court judges. These judges are commissioned officers selected by judge advocates according to rules established by Congress, and their responsibility for individual cases begins and ends with the court-martial process. The military trial courts are organized by the type of courts-martial that they address?summary, special, and general, which reflect increasingly serious charges and punishments.

Just as trials in civilian criminal courts are the result of work by police officers and prosecutors, courts-martial are preceded by a formal investigation. During questioning, military suspects have the same FIFTH AMENDMENT right to remain silent, as do civilians, as well as some additional rights. Civilian police officers

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must read a suspect the Miranda rights at the time of arrest. Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice requires military investigators to go even further: As soon as suspicion focuses on a suspect during interrogation, they must advise him or her of the right to remain silent. This stringent requirement places a higher burden on military investigators to protect suspects' rights, and later it can become grounds for the dismissal of charges if it is not followed.

Military laws provide generous protections to defendants before a case goes to trial. These include complete pretrial discovery, allowing defendants free access to witnesses and evidence, as well as a requirement that prosecutors reveal the names of witnesses who will be called during all stages of the trial. In addition, the government must provide defendants with expert witnesses at its own expense; judges may delay or dismiss trials if prosecutors fail to do so. The military judge is empowered to hear pretrial motions on a broad range of issues, ranging from alleged violations of the defendant's...

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