10 U.S.C. § 863 (ARMED FORCES)
§ 863. Art. 63. Rehearings
Each rehearing under this chapter shall take place before a court-martial composed of members not members of the court-martial which first heard the case. Upon a rehearing the accused may not be tried for any offense of which he was found not guilty by the first court-martial, and no sentence in excess of or more severe than the original sentence may be approved, unless the sentence is based upon a finding of guilty of an offense not considered upon the merits in the original proceedings, or unless the sentence prescribed for the offense is mandatory. If the sentence approved after the first court-martial was in accordance with a pretrial agreement and the accused at the rehearing changes his plea with respect to the charges or specifications upon which the pretrial agreement was based, or otherwise does not comply with the pretrial agreement, the approved sentence as to those charges or specifications may include any punishment not in excess of that lawfully adjudged at the first court-martial.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 58; Pub. L. 98–209, § 5(d), Dec. 6, 1983, 97 Stat. 1398; Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1065, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2506; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LIX, § 5327, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2929; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title V, § 531(i), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1385.)
heading: Amendment of Section
text: Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title V, § 531(i), (p), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1385, 1388, provided that, effective immediately after the amendment made by section 5327 of Pub. L. 114–328, set out below, takes effect as provided for in section 5542 of that Act, subsection (b) of this section is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, subject to such limitations as the President may prescribe by regulation”. See 2017 Amendment note below.
Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LIX, § 5327, title LXIII, § 5542, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2929, 2967, made amendments to this section effective on the date designated by the President, not later than the first day of the first calendar month beginning two years after Dec. 23, 2016, with implementing regulations prescribed by the President not later than one year after Dec. 23, 2016, and with provisions relating to applicability to various situations. After such effective date, this section will read:
§ 863. Art. 63. Rehearings
(a) Each rehearing under this chapter shall take place before a court-martial composed of members not members of the court-martial which first heard the case. Upon a rehearing the accused may not be tried for any offense of which he was found not guilty by the first court-martial, and no sentence in excess of or more severe than the original sentence may be adjudged, unless the sentence is based upon a finding of guilty of an offense not considered upon the merits in the original proceedings, or unless the sentence prescribed for the offense is mandatory.
(b) If the sentence adjudged by the first court-martial was in accordance with a plea agreement under section 853a of this title (article 53a) and the accused at the rehearing does not comply with the agreement, or if a plea of guilty was entered for an offense at the first court-martial and a plea of not guilty was entered at the rehearing, the sentence as to those charges or specifications may include any punishment not in excess of that which could have been adjudged at the first court-martial.
(c) If, after appeal by the Government under section 856(d) of this title (article 56(d)), the sentence adjudged is set aside and a rehearing on sentence is ordered by the Court of Criminal Appeals or Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the court-martial may impose any sentence that is in accordance with the order or ruling setting aside the adjudged sentence, subject to such limitations as the President may prescribe by regulation.
See 2016 Amendment note below.
text: Historical and Revision Notes
Revised section
Source (U.S. Code)
Source (Statutes at Large)
863(a)
863(b)
50:650(a).
50:650(b).
May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 1 (Art. 63), 64 Stat. 127.
In subsection (a), the words “In such a” are substituted for the words “in which”.
In subsection (b), the word “Each” is substituted for the word “Every”. The word “may” is substituted for the word “shall” in the second sentence.
heading: Amendments
text: 2017—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–91 inserted “, subject to such limitations as the President may prescribe by regulation” before period at end.
2016—Pub. L. 114–328 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “may be adjudged” for “may be approved” in second sentence, struck out at end “If the sentence approved after the first court-martial was in accordance with a pretrial agreement and the accused at the rehearing changes his plea with respect to the charges or specifications upon which the pretrial agreement was based, or otherwise does not comply with the pretrial agreement, the approved sentence as to those charges or specifications may include any punishment not in excess of that lawfully adjudged at the first court-martial.”, and added subsecs. (b) and (c).
1992—Pub. L. 102–484 substituted “approved” for “imposed” in second sentence and inserted “approved” before last reference to “sentence” in third sentence.
1983—Pub. L. 98–209 struck out subsec. (a) which provided that if the convening authority disapproved the findings and sentence of a court-martial he could, except where there was lack of sufficient evidence in the record to support the findings, order a rehearing, stating the reasons for disapproval, and that if he disapproved the findings without reordering a rehearing, he had to dismiss the charges, and redesignated former subsec. (b) as entire section, and, as so redesignated, inserted “under this chapter” after “Each rehearing”, and inserted provision that if the sentence approved after the first court-martial was in accordance with a pretrial agreement and the accused at the rehearing changes his plea with respect to the charges or specifications upon which the pretrial agreement was based, or otherwise does not comply with the pretrial agreement, the sentence as to those charges or specifications may include any punishment not in excess of that lawfully adjudged at the first court-martial.
heading: Effective Date of 2017 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 115–91 effective immediately after the amendments made by div. E (§§ 5001–5542) of Pub. L. 114–328 take effect as provided for in section 5542 of that Act (10 U.S.C. 801 note), see section 531(p) of Pub. L. 115–91, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.
heading: Effective Date of 2016 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 114–328 effective on the date designated by the President, not later than the first day of the first calendar month beginning two years after Dec. 23, 2016, with implementing regulations prescribed by the President not later than one year after Dec. 23, 2016, and with provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.
heading: Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 102–484 effective Oct. 23, 1992, and applicable with respect to offenses committed on or after that date, see section 1067 of Pub. L. 102–484, set out as a note under section 803 of this title.
heading: Effective Date of 1983 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 98–209 effective first day of eighth calendar month beginning after Dec. 6, 1983, but not to apply to any case in which the findings and sentence were adjudged by a court-martial before that date, and the proceedings in any such case to be held in the same manner and with the same effect as if such amendments had not been enacted, see section 12(a)(1), (4) of Pub. L. 98–209, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.