II 

Calendar No. 611 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2970 

To reform procedures for determinations to proceed to trial by court-martial 

for certain offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 2, 2014 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

DECEMBER 3, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To reform procedures for determinations to proceed to trial 

by court-martial for certain offenses under the Uniform 

Code of Military Justice, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Military Justice Im5 provement Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE TO 

2 PROCEED TO TRIAL BY COURT-MARTIAL ON 

3 CHARGES ON CERTAIN OFFENSES WITH AU4 THORIZED MAXIMUM SENTENCE OF CON5 FINEMENT OF MORE THAN ONE YEAR. 

6 (a) MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (A) MILITARY DEPARTMENTS.—With re9 spect to charges under chapter 47 of title 10, 

10 United States Code (the Uniform Code of Mili11 tary Justice), that allege an offense specified in 

12 paragraph (2) and not excluded under para13 graph (3), the Secretary of Defense shall re14 quire the Secretaries of the military depart15 ments to provide for the determination under 

16 section 830(b) of such chapter (article 30(b) of 

17 the Uniform Code of Military Justice) on 

18 whether to try such charges by court-martial as 

19 provided in paragraph (4). 

20 (B) HOMELAND SECURITY.—With respect 

21 to charges under chapter 47 of title 10, United 

22 States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Jus23 tice), that allege an offense specified in para24 graph (2) and not excluded under paragraph 

25 (3) against a member of the Coast Guard 

26 (when it is not operating as a service in the 


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1 Navy), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

2 shall provide for the determination under sec3 tion 830(b) of such chapter (article 30(b) of the 

4 Uniform Code of Military Justice) on whether 

5 to try such charges by court-martial as provided 

6 in paragraph (4). 

7 (2) COVERED OFFENSES.—An offense specified 

8 in this paragraph is an offense as follows: 

9 (A) An offense under chapter 47 of title 

10 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of 

11 Military Justice), that is triable by court-mar12 tial under that chapter for which the maximum 

13 punishment authorized under that chapter in14 cludes confinement for more than one year. 

15 (B) A conspiracy to commit an offense 

16 specified in subparagraph (A) as punishable 

17 under section 881 of title 10, United States 

18 Code (article 81 of the Uniform Code of Mili19 tary Justice). 

20 (C) A solicitation to commit an offense 

21 specified in subparagraph (A) as punishable 

22 under section 882 of title 10, United States 

23 Code (article 82 of the Uniform Code of Mili24 tary Justice). 


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1 (D) An attempt to commit an offense spec2 ified in subparagraphs (A) through (C) as pun3 ishable under section 880 of title 10, United 

4 States Code (article 80 of the Uniform Code of 

5 Military Justice). 

6 (3) EXCLUDED OFFENSES.—Paragraph (1) 

7 does not apply to an offense as follows: 

8 (A) An offense under sections 883 through 

9 917 of title 10, United States Code (articles 83 

10 through 117 of the Uniform Code of Military 

11 Justice). 

12 (B) An offense under section 933 or 934 

13 of title 10, United States Code (articles 133 

14 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Jus15 tice). 

16 (C) A conspiracy to commit an offense 

17 specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) as punish18 able under section 881 of title 10, United 

19 States Code (article 81 of the Uniform Code of 

20 Military Justice). 

21 (D) A solicitation to commit an offense 

22 specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) as punish23 able under section 882 of title 10, United 

24 States Code (article 82 of the Uniform Code of 

25 Military Justice). 


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1 (E) An attempt to commit an offense spec2 ified in subparagraph (A) through (D) as pun3 ishable under section 880 of title 10, United 

4 States Code (article 80 of the Uniform Code of 

5 Military Justice). 

6 (4) REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS.—The 

7 disposition of charges pursuant to paragraph (1) 

8 shall be subject to the following: 

9 (A) The determination whether to try such 

10 charges by court-martial shall be made by a 

11 commissioned officer of the Armed Forces des12 ignated in accordance with regulations pre13 scribed for purposes of this subsection from 

14 among commissioned officers of the Armed 

15 Forces in grade O–6 or higher who— 

16 (i) are available for detail as trial 

17 counsel under section 827 of title 10, 

18 United States Code (article 27 of the Uni19 form Code of Military Justice); 

20 (ii) have significant experience in 

21 trials by general or special court-martial; 

22 and 

23 (iii) are outside the chain of command 

24 of the member subject to such charges. 


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1 (B) Upon a determination under subpara2 graph (A) to try such charges by court-martial, 

3 the officer making that determination shall de4 termine whether to try such charges by a gen5 eral court-martial convened under section 822 

6 of title 10, United States Code (article 22 of 

7 the Uniform Code of Military Justice), or a spe8 cial court-martial convened under section 823 

9 of title 10, United States Code (article 23 of 

10 the Uniform Code of Military Justice). 

11 (C) A determination under subparagraph 

12 (A) to try charges by court-martial shall include 

13 a determination to try all known offenses, in14 cluding lesser included offenses. 

15 (D) The determination to try such charges 

16 by court-martial under subparagraph (A), and 

17 by type of court-martial under subparagraph 

18 (B), shall be binding on any applicable con19 vening authority for a trial by court-martial on 

20 such charges. 

21 (E) The actions of an officer described in 

22 subparagraph (A) in determining under that 

23 subparagraph whether or not to try charges by 

24 court-martial shall be free of unlawful or unau25 thorized influence or coercion. 


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1 (F) The determination under subpara2 graph (A) not to proceed to trial of such 

3 charges by general or special court-martial shall 

4 not operate to terminate or otherwise alter the 

5 authority of commanding officers to refer such 

6 charges for trial by summary court-martial con7 vened under section 824 of title 10, United 

8 States Code (article 24 of the Uniform Code of 

9 Military Justice), or to impose non-judicial pun10 ishment in connection with the conduct covered 

11 by such charges as authorized by section 815 of 

12 title 10, United States Code (article 15 of the 

13 Uniform Code of Military Justice). 

14 (5) CONSTRUCTION WITH CHARGES ON OTHER

15 OFFENSES.—Nothing in this subsection shall be con16 strued to alter or affect the disposition of charges 

17 under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code 

18 (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), that allege 

19 an offense triable by court-martial under that chap20 ter for which the maximum punishment authorized 

21 under that chapter includes confinement for one 

22 year or less. 

23 (6) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries of the 

25 military departments and the Secretary of 


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1 Homeland Security (with respect to the Coast 

2 Guard when it is not operating as a service in 

3 the Navy) shall revise policies and procedures 

4 as necessary to comply with this subsection. 

5 (B) UNIFORMITY.—The General Counsel 

6 of the Department of Defense and the General 

7 Counsel of the Department of Homeland Secu8 rity shall jointly review the policies and proce9 dures revised under this paragraph in order to 

10 ensure that any lack of uniformity in policies 

11 and procedures, as so revised, among the mili12 tary departments and the Department of 

13 Homeland Security does not render unconstitu14 tional any policy or procedure, as so revised. 

15 (7) MANUAL FOR COURTS-MARTIAL.—The Sec16 retary of Defense shall recommend such changes to 

17 the Manual for Courts-Martial as are necessary to 

18 ensure compliance with this subsection. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICABILITY.—Sub20 section (a), and the revisions required by that subsection, 

21 shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply with 

23 respect to charges preferred under section 830 of title 10, 

24 United States Code (article 30 of the Uniform Code of 

25 Military Justice), on or after such effective date. 


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1 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF OFFICERS AUTHORIZED TO CON2 VENE GENERAL AND SPECIAL COURTS-MAR3 TIAL. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 822 of 

5 title 10, United States Code (article 22 of the Uniform 

6 Code of Military Justice), is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as 

8 paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol10 lowing new paragraph (8): 

11 ‘‘(8) the officers in the offices established pur12 suant to section 3(c) of the Military Justice Im13 provement Act of 2014 or officers in the grade of O– 

14 6 or higher who are assigned such responsibility by 

15 the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Naval 

16 Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the 

17 Commandant of the Marine Corps, or the Com18 mandant of the Coast Guard, but only with respect 

19 to offenses to which section 2(a)(1) of the Military 

20 Justice Improvement Act of 2014 applies;’’. 

21 (b) NO EXERCISE BY OFFICERS IN CHAIN OF COM22 MAND OF ACCUSED OR VICTIM.—Such section (article) is 

23 further amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) An officer specified in subsection (a)(8) may not 

2 convene a court-martial under this section if the officer 

3 is in the chain of command of the accused or the victim.’’. 

4 (c) OFFICES OF CHIEFS OF STAFF ON COURTS-MAR5 TIAL.— 

6 (1) OFFICES REQUIRED.—Each Chief of Staff 

7 of the Armed Forces or Commandant specified in 

8 paragraph (8) of section 822(a) of title 10, United 

9 States Code (article 22(a) of the Uniform Code of 

10 Military Justice), as amended by subsection (a), 

11 shall establish an office to do the following: 

12 (A) To convene general and special courts13 martial under sections 822 and 823 of title 10, 

14 United States Code (articles 22 and 23 of the 

15 Uniform Code of Military Justice), pursuant to 

16 paragraph (8) of section 822(a) of title 10, 

17 United States Code (article 22(a) of the Uni18 form Code of Military Justice), as so amended, 

19 with respect to offenses to which section 2(a)(1) 

20 applies. 

21 (B) To detail under section 825 of title 10, 

22 United States Code (article 25 of the Uniform 

23 Code of Military Justice), members of courts24 martial convened as described in subparagraph 

25 (A). 


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1 (2) PERSONNEL.—The personnel of each office 

2 established under paragraph (1) shall consist of such 

3 members of the Armed Forces and civilian personnel 

4 of the Department of Defense, or such members of 

5 the Coast Guard or civilian personnel of the Depart6 ment of Homeland Security, as may be detailed or 

7 assigned to the office by the Chief of Staff or Com8 mandant concerned. The members and personnel so 

9 detailed or assigned, as the case may be, shall be de10 tailed or assigned from personnel billets in existence 

11 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 4. DISCHARGE USING OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED PER13 SONNEL AND RESOURCES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries of the military 

15 departments and the Secretary of Homeland Security 

16 (with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating 

17 as a service in the Navy) shall carry out sections 2 and 

18 3 (and the amendments made by section 3) using per19 sonnel, funds, and resources otherwise authorized by law. 

20 (b) NO AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL PER21 SONNEL OR RESOURCES.—Sections 2 and 3 (and the 

22 amendments made by section 3) shall not be construed 

23 as authorizations for personnel, personnel billets, or funds 

24 for the discharge of the requirements in such sections. 


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1 SEC. 5. MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF MODIFICATION 

2 OF AUTHORITIES ON COURTS-MARTIAL BY 

3 INDEPENDENT PANEL ON REVIEW AND AS4 SESSMENT OF PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE 

5 UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE. 

6 Section 576(d)(2) of the National Defense Authoriza7 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239; 126 

8 Stat. 1762) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub10 paragraph (K); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol12 lowing new subparagraph (J): 

13 ‘‘(J) Monitor and assess the implementation 

14 and efficacy of sections 2 through 4 of the Military 

15 Justice Improvement Act of 2014, and the amend16 ments made by such sections.’’. 


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Calendar No. 611 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2970 

A BILL 

To reform procedures for determinations to proceed 

for other purposes. under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and to trial by court-martial for certain offenses 

DECEMBER 3, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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