# Public Law 81-506/Part V
### Part V — Appointment and Composition of Courts-Martial
#### Art. 22. Who may convene general courts-martial.

| (a) | General courts-martial may be convened by— |
| (1) | the President of the United States; |
| (2) | the Secretary of a Department; |
| (3) | the commanding officer of a Territorial Department, an Army Group, an Army, an Army Corps, a division, a separate brigade, or a corresponding unit of the Army or Marine Corps; |
| (4) | the commander in chief of a fleet; the commanding officer of a naval station or larger shore activity of the Navy beyond the continental limits of the United States; |
| (5) | the commanding officer of an air command, an air force, an air division, or a separate wing of the Air Force or Marine Corps; |
| (6) | such other commanding officers as may be designated by the Secretary of a Department; or |
| (7) | any other commanding officer in any of the armed forces when empowered by the President. |
| (b) | When any such commanding officer is an accuser, the court shall be convened by superior competent authority, and may in any case be convened by such authority when deemed desirable by him. |

#### Art. 23. Who may convene special courts-martial.

| (a) | Special courts-martial may be convened by- |
| (1) | any person who may convene a general court-martial; |
| (2) | the commanding officer of a district, garrison, fort, camp, station, Air Force base, auxiliary air field, or other place where members of the Army or Air Force are on duty; |
| (3) | the commanding officer of a brigade, regiment, detached battalion, or corresponding unit of the Army; |
| (4) | the commanding officer of a wing, group, or separate squadron of the Air Force; |
| (5) | the commanding officer of any naval or Coast Guard vessel, shipyard, base, or station; the commanding officer of any Marine brigade, regiment, detached battalion, or corresponding unit; the commanding officer of any Marine barracks, wing, group, separate squadron, station, base, auxiliary airfield, or other place where members of the Marine Corps are on duty; |
| (6) | the commanding officer of any separate or detached command or group of detached units of any of the armed forces placed under a single commander for this purpose; or |
| (7) | the commanding officer or officer in charge of any other command when empowered by the Secretary of a Department. |
| (b) | When any such officer is an accuser, the court shall be convened by superior competent authority, and may in any case be convened by such authority when deemed advisable by him. |

#### Art. 24. Who may convene summary courts-martial.

| (a) | Summary courts-martial may be convened by- |
| (1) | any person who may convene a general or special courtmartial; |
| (2) | the commanding officer of a detached company, or other detachment of the Army; |
| (3) | the commanding officer of a detached squadron or other detachment of the Air Force; or |
| (4) | the commanding officer or officer in charge of any other command when empowered by the Secretary of a Department. |
| (b) | When but one officer is present with a command or detachment he shall be the summary court-martial of that command or detachment and shall hear and determine all summary court-martial cases brought before him. Summary courts-martial may, however, be convened in any case by superior competent authority when deemed desirable by him. |

#### Art. 25. Who may serve on courts-martial.

| (a) | Any officer on active duty with the armed forces shall be eligible to serve on all courts-martial for the trial of any person who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial. |
| (b) | Any warrant officer on active duty with the armed forces shall be eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any person, other than an officer, who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial. |
| (c) | |
| (1) | Any enlisted person on active duty with the armed forces who is not a member of the same unit as the accused shall be eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of any enlisted person who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial, but he shall serve as a member of a court only if, prior to the convening of such court, the accused personally has requested in writing that enlisted persons serve on it. After such a request, no enlisted person shall be tried by a general or special court-martial the membership of which does not include enlisted persons in a number comprising at least one-third of the total membership of the court, unless eligible enlisted persons cannot be obtained on account of physical conditions or military exigencies. Where such persons cannot be obtained, the court may be convened and the trial held without them, but the convening authority shall make a detailed written statement, to be appended to the record, stating why they could not be obtained. |
| (2) | For the purposes of this article, the word ‘‘unit’’ shall mean any regularly organized body as defined by the Secretary of the Department, but in no case shall it be a body larger than a company, a squadron, or a ship's crew, or than a body corresponding to one of them. |
* (d)
| (1) | When it can be avoided, no person in the armed forces shall be tried by a court-martial any member of which is junior to him in rank or grade. |
| (2) | When convening a court-martial, the convening authority shall appoint as members thereof such persons as, in his opinion, are best qualified for the duty by reason of age, education, training, experience, length of service, and judicial temperament. No person shall be eligible to sit as a member of a general or special court-martial when he is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as investigating officer or as counsel in the same case. |

#### Art. 26. Law officer of a general court-martial.

| (a) | The authority convening a general court-martial shall appoint as law officer thereof an officer who is a member of the bar of a Federal court or of the highest court of a State of the United States and who is certified to be qualified for such duty by The Judge Advocate General of the armed force of which he is a member. No person shall be eligible to act as law officer in a case when he is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as investigating officer or as counsel in the same case. |
| (b) | The law officer shall not consult with the members of the court, other than on the form of the findings as provided in article 39, except in the presence of the accused, trial counsel, and defense counsel, nor shall he vote with the members of the court. |

#### Art. 27. Appointment of trial counsel and defense counsel.

| (a) | For each general and special court-martial the authority convening the court shall appoint a trial counsel and a defense counsel, together with such assistants as he deems necessary or appropriate. No person who has acted as investigating officer, law officer, or court member in any case shall act subsequently as trial counsel, assistant trial counsel, or, unless expressly requested by the accused, as defense counsel or assistant defense counsel in the same case. No person who has acted for the prosecution shall act subsequently in the same case for the defense, nor shall any person who has acted for the defense act subsequently in the same case for the prosecution. |
| (b) | Any person who is appointed as trial counsel or defense counsel in the case of a general court-martial- |
| (1) | shall be a judge advocate of the Army or the Air Force, or a law specialist of the Navy or Coast Guard, who is a graduate of an accredited law school or is a member of the bar of a Federal court or of the highest court of a State; or shall be a person who is a member of the bar of a Federal court or of the highest court of a State; and |
| (2) | shall be certified as competent to perform such duties by The Judge Advocate General of the armed force of which he is a member. |
| (c) | In the case of a special court-martial- |
| (1) | if the trial counsel is qualified to act as counsel before a general court-martial, the defense counsel appointed by the convening authority shall be a person similarly qualified; and |
| (2) | if the trial counsel is a judge advocate, or a law specialist, or a member of the bar of a Federal court or the highest court of a State, the defense counsel appointed by the convening authority shall be one of the foregoing. |

#### Art. 28. Appointment of reporters and interpreters.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Department may prescribe, the convening authority of a court-martial or military commission or a court of inquiry shall appoint qualified court reporters, who shall record the proceedings of and testimony taken before such court or commission. Under like regulations the convening authority of a court-martial, military commission, or court of inquiry may appoint an interpreter who shall interpret for the court or commission.

#### Art. 29. Absent and additional members.

| (a) | No member of a general or special court-martial shall be absent or excused after the accused has been arraigned except for physical disability or as a result of a challenge or by order of the convening authority for good cause. |
| (b) | Whenever a general court-martial is reduced below five members, the trial shall not proceed unless the convening authority appoints new members sufficient in number to provide not less than five members. When such new members have been sworn, the trial may proceed after the recorded testimony of each witness previously examined has been read to the court in the presence of the law officer, the accused, and counsel. |
| (c) | Whenever a special court-martial is reduced below three members, the trial shall not proceed unless the convening authority appoints new members sufficient in number to provide not less than three members. When such new members have been sworn, the trial shall proceed as if no evidence had previously been introduced, unless a verbatim record of the testimony of previously examined witnesses or a stipulation thereof is read to the court in the presence of the accused and counsel. |