I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3459 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for preliminary hearings 

on alleged offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2013 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, and Ms. TSONGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for preliminary hearings on alleged offenses under the Uniform 

Code of Military Justice. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Article 32 Reform 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRELIMINARY HEARINGS ON ALLEGED OFFENSES 

7 UNDER THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY 

8 JUSTICE. 

9 (a) PRELIMINARY HEARINGS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 832 of title 10, 

2 United States Code (article 32 of the Uniform Code 

3 of Military Justice), is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘§ 832. Art. 32. Preliminary hearing 

5 ‘‘(a)(1) No charge or specification may be referred 

6 to a general court-martial for trial until a judge advocate 

7 described in paragraph (2) conducts a preliminary hear8 ing. 

9 ‘‘(2) A judge advocate may conduct a preliminary 

10 hearing if the judge advocate has a grade equal to or high11 er than the grade of the trial counsel and, if the accused 

12 is represented by military counsel, the defense counsel who 

13 will represent the accused at the preliminary hearing. 

14 ‘‘(3) The preliminary hearing shall be limited to the 

15 purpose of determining whether there is probable cause 

16 to believe an offense has been committed and whether the 

17 accused committed it. 

18 ‘‘(4) After conducting the preliminary hearing, the 

19 judge advocate conducting the preliminary hearing shall 

20 prepare a report that includes the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) A determination as to court-martial juris22 diction over the offense and the accused. 

23 ‘‘(B) A determination as to probable cause. 

24 ‘‘(C) A consideration of the form of charges. 


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1 ‘‘(D) A recommendation as to the disposition 

2 which should be made of the case. 

3 ‘‘(b)(1) The accused shall be advised of the charges 

4 against the accused and of the accused’s right to be rep5 resented by counsel at the preliminary hearing. The ac6 cused has the right to be represented at the preliminary 

7 hearing as provided in section 838 of this title (article 38) 

8 and in regulations prescribed under that section. 

9 ‘‘(2) At the preliminary hearing, the accused may 

10 cross-examine adverse witnesses if they are available. The 

11 accused may offer evidence and call witnesses relevant to 

12 the probable cause determination. An objection to evidence 

13 on the ground that it was unlawfully acquired may be 

14 noted as part of the record. 

15 ‘‘(3) A victim of the offense may not be required to 

16 testify at the preliminary hearing. A victim who declines 

17 to testify shall be deemed to be not available for purposes 

18 of the preliminary hearing. 

19 ‘‘(4) The presentation of evidence and examination 

20 of witnesses at a preliminary hearing shall be limited to 

21 the question of probable cause. 

22 ‘‘(c) Any preliminary hearing under this section shall 

23 be recorded by a court reporter or by a suitable recording 

24 device. A copy of the recording and a transcript shall be 


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1 provided to any party, and the victim of the offense and 

2 counsel of such victim, upon request. 

3 ‘‘(d) The requirements of this section are binding on 

4 all persons administering this chapter but failure to follow 

5 them does not constitute jurisdictional error.’’. 

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions at the beginning of subchapter VI of chapter 

8 47 of such title (the Uniform Code of Military Jus9 tice) is amended by striking the item relating to sec10 tion 832 (article 32) and inserting the following new 

11 item: 

‘‘832. Art. 32. Preliminary hearing.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) Section 834(a)(2) of such title (article 

14 34(b)(2) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘the report of investigation’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘the report of the preliminary hear17 ing’’. 

18 (2) Section 838(b)(1) of such title (article 

19 38(b)(1) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘an investigation’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘a preliminary hearing’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall take effect on the date that is one year 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply 

25 with respect to offenses under chapter 47 of title 10, 


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1 United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Jus2 tice), that occur on or after such effective date. 

Æ 


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