10 U.S.C. § 826 — Art. 26. Military judge of a general or special court-martial
submitted 70 years ago by ch. 1041 to r/title-10-ARMED-FORCES · 514 words · no verdicts yet
Each general and special court-martial has a military judge. The judge must be a qualified commissioned attorney certified by a Judge Advocate General, must be independent of the convening authority in performance reports, and cannot have acted in a conflicting role in the case.
(a) A military judge* must be assigned to every general and special court-martial and preside at each open session. The Secretary concerned* must make rules about assignment and who may assign judges.
(b) The judge must be a commissioned armed-forces officer* who belongs to a Federal-court bar or the highest State-court bar and is certified by the appropriate Judge Advocate General* as qualified by education, training, experience, and judicial temperament.
(c)(1) Under the Secretary's rules, the Judge Advocate* General designates the judge for assignment. (2) The convening authority and staff may not prepare or review a report about that judge's effectiveness, fitness, or efficiency as a military judge. (3) A general-court judge may perform judicial duties only while assigned and directly responsible to the Judge Advocate General, and may perform other judicial or nonjudicial duties only when assigned by or approved by that Judge Advocate General. (4) Presidential rules must provide appropriate minimum assignment periods, subject to stated exceptions.
(d) A person cannot be judge in a case if the person is the accuser* or a prosecution witness or acted as preliminary-hearing officer or counsel in the same case.
(e) The judge may consult with court members only with the accused and both counsel present, and may not vote with the members.
(f) With permission of the appropriate Judge Advocate General, a judge may be assigned to a court-martial or article 30a proceeding convened in another armed force.
(g) Under Presidential rules, each Judge Advocate General must designate a chief trial judge from the applicable trial judiciary.
A military judge* shall be detailed to each general and special court-martial. The Secretary concerned* shall prescribe regulations providing for the manner in which military judges are detailed for such courts-martial and for the persons who are authorized to detail military judges for such courts-martial. The military judge shall preside over each open session of the court-martial to which he has been detailed.
A military judge shall be a commissioned officer* of the armed forces* who is a member of the bar of a Federal court or a member of the bar of the highest court of a State and who is certified to be qualified, by reason of education, training, experience, and judicial temperament, for duty as a military judge by the Judge Advocate General* of the armed force of which such military judge is a member.
In accordance with regulations prescribed under subsection (a), a military judge of a general or special court-martial shall be designated for detail by the Judge Advocate* General of the armed force of which the military judge is a member.
Neither the convening authority nor any member of the staff of the convening authority shall prepare or review any report concerning the effectiveness, fitness, or efficiency of the military judge so detailed, which relates to the military judge’s performance of duty as a military judge.
A commissioned officer* who is certified to be qualified for duty as a military judge of a general court-martial—
may perform such duties only when the officer is assigned and directly responsible to the Judge Advocate General of the armed force of which the military judge is a member; and
may perform duties of a judicial or nonjudicial nature other than those relating to the officer’s primary duty as a military judge of a general court-martial when such duties are assigned to the officer by or with the approval of that Judge Advocate General.
In accordance with regulations prescribed by the President, assignments of military judges under this section (article) shall be for appropriate minimum periods, subject to such exceptions as may be authorized in the regulations.
No person is eligible to act as military judge in a case if he is the accuser* or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as preliminary hearing officer or a counsel in the same case.
The military judge of a court-martial may not consult with the members of the court except in the presence of the accused, trial counsel, and defense counsel, nor may he vote with the members of the court.
A military judge may be detailed under subsection (a) to a court-martial or a proceeding under section 830a of this title (article 30a) that is convened in a different armed force, when so permitted by the Judge Advocate General of the armed force of which the military judge is a member.
In accordance with regulations prescribed by the President, each Judge Advocate General shall designate a chief trial judge from among the members of the applicable trial judiciary.
Source credit: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 46; Pub. L. 90–632, § 2(9), Oct. 24, 1968, 82 Stat. 1336; Pub. L. 98–209, § 3(c)(1), Dec. 6, 1983, 97 Stat. 1394; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LV, § 5184, title LVI, § 5203(e)(3), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2901, 2906.)
- 1956Enacted · Act of Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041
- 1968Amended · Pub. L. 90-632 · 82 Stat. 1336
- 1983Amended · Pub. L. 98-209 · 97 Stat. 1394
- 2016Amended · Pub. L. 114-328 · 130 Stat. 2901, 2906
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 1041 on 1956-08-10.
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