10 U.S.C. § 866 — Art. 66. Courts of Criminal Appeals

(a) Each Judge Advocate General must establish a Court of Criminal Appeals with one or more panels of at least three appellate military judges. The court may sit in panels or as a whole under subsection (h) rules, and the whole court may reconsider a panel decision. Judges may be commissioned officers or civilians. Each must belong to a Federal-court bar or the highest court of a State and be certified by the Judge Advocate General as qualified by education, training, experience, and judicial temperament. The Judge Advocate General names a chief judge, who assigns judges to panels and selects each panel’s senior judge. Presidential regulations set minimum assignment periods and exceptions. (2) Each assigned judge must also have at least 12 years of legal-practice experience. (b) The Court has jurisdiction over (1)(A) a timely appeal from a court-martial judgment entered under article 60c that includes a guilty finding; (B) a summary court-martial case the accused applied to have reviewed under article 69(d)(1) and the Court accepted; (2) cases the Judge Advocate General sends for review under article 56(d); and (3) court-martial judgments with a death sentence, dismissal of a commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman, dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge, or confinement of at least two years. (c) An appeal under (b)(1)(A) is timely if filed before the later of 90 days after notice of appellate rights under article 65(c), or the date set by Court rule or order. An appeal under (b)(1)(B) is timely if filed by the earlier deadline under article 69(d)(2)(B). (d) In an accused’s case, the Court may act only on findings and sentence entered under article 60c. It may affirm only guilty findings legally correct and factually correct under this subsection. On request after a specific showing of deficient proof, it may weigh evidence and decide disputed facts, giving proper deference to the trial court’s witness and evidence observations and to military-judge factual findings. If clearly convinced the guilty finding conflicts with the evidence’s weight, it may dismiss, set aside, or change the finding, or affirm a lesser finding. It may also provide appropriate relief for shown error or excessive processing delay after judgment. (e) Except for article 56(d) review, the Court may consider whether a sentence violates law; is inappropriately severe where no presidential parameter applies or exceeds an applicable parameter’s upper range; resulted from incorrect parameter application; is plainly unreasonable; or, for a death or members-imposed life-without-parole sentence in a capital case, is otherwise appropriate under presidential rules. Except for (b)(2) review, the appeal record includes pertinent portions designated by a party, sentencing information, and information required by Court rule or order. (f) If findings are set aside, the Court may affirm a lesser included offense and, unless article 44 forbids it, order a rehearing. Without a rehearing it must dismiss the charges. If a convening authority finds a rehearing impracticable, that authority may dismiss; a special trial counsel decides and dismisses for a case that counsel referred. If the sentence is set aside, the Court may reduce it or order a rehearing. For warranted additional proceedings, it may order a necessary hearing on a substantial issue, subject to its limits and presidential regulations; it must follow directions from the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. (g) Unless further action will be taken by the President, Secretary concerned, Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, or Supreme Court, the Judge Advocate General must instruct the proper authority to follow the decision. (h) The Judge Advocates General must issue uniform procedure rules and meet periodically to formulate review policies and procedures. (i) A Court member may not be required or allowed to prepare, approve, disapprove, review, or submit an effectiveness, fitness, efficiency, or similar report about another Court member when used to decide advancement, assignment, transfer, or active-duty retention. (j) A Court member may not review a trial record if the member was its investigating officer, court-martial member, military judge, trial or defense counsel, or reviewing officer.