MILITARYCLAIMS.US · MILITARY JUSTICE

Code & Procedures for Military Justice

A source-controlled guide to the UCMJ, Manual for Courts-Martial, Rules for Courts-Martial, Military Rules of Evidence, trial procedure, appeals, and military-justice records.

This section is designed as a legal-navigation layer, not a substitute for military defense counsel, victim counsel, a judge advocate, or current service-specific rules. A live case can turn on status, offense date, forum, service, procedural posture, and a deadline measured in days.

The authority stack

UCMJ — 10 U.S.C. chapter 47: the statutory code enacted by Congress.
Manual for Courts-Martial: presidential rules and procedures, including the Rules for Courts-Martial and Military Rules of Evidence, plus punitive-article explanations and appendices.
Post-publication presidential amendments: operative executive orders must be read with the current published MCM until incorporated into a later edition.
Service regulations and rules of court: branch-specific implementation, forms, dockets, trial-practice rules, and administrative routing.
Judicial decisions: service Courts of Criminal Appeals, CAAF, and Supreme Court decisions where applicable.

Current-version warning

The Joint Service Committee currently identifies the 2024 Manual for Courts-Martial as the published MCM edition. The President signed Executive Order 14130 on December 20, 2024, prescribing later amendments; JSC’s current materials state that those amendments are not yet included in any published MCM. For a current procedural issue, do not rely on the 2024 volume alone.

The JSC page also continues to identify a set of proposed 2025 amendments as proposed material. Proposed language should not be treated as operative merely because it appears on the JSC site.

Procedure map

Allegation / investigation: identify the offense, subject status, investigators, restraint, searches, statements, and evidence preservation.
Rights: identify Article 31 warnings, counsel rights, victim rights, privilege and confidentiality rules.
Initial disposition: administrative action, Article 15/NJP, or potential court-martial processing may follow different routes.
Charges: preserve preferral, specifications, amendments, withdrawal/dismissal, and who exercises prosecutorial authority.
Article 32: for a general court-martial, determine whether a preliminary hearing is required or validly waived.
Referral: identify who referred the charges, to what type of court-martial, and under which jurisdictional authority.
Pretrial litigation: discovery, witnesses, experts, motions, evidentiary issues, pleas, and plea agreements.
Trial: arraignment, motions, evidence, instructions, deliberation, and findings.
Sentencing and judgment: preserve sentencing evidence, adjudged sentence, Statement of Trial Results, entry of judgment, and post-trial submissions.
Review: identify the proper CCA, CAAF route, new-trial or extraordinary-relief mechanism, and deadline.

Foundations

MJ-001 — UCMJ: Code, Structure & Scope

The Uniform Code of Military Justice is codified in 10 U.S.C. chapter 47. Its statutory structure runs from general provisions and apprehension through nonjudicial punishment, jurisdiction, pretrial and trial procedure, sentencing, post-trial review, punitive articles, miscellaneous provisions, and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Primary source: UCMJ — 10 U.S.C. chapter 47

MJ-002 — Who Is Subject to the UCMJ & Court-Martial Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is a threshold issue. Identify the person’s status, the offense date, the statutory basis for personal jurisdiction, the type of court-martial, and subject-matter jurisdiction before analyzing the merits.

Primary source: Current UCMJ

MJ-003 — Manual for Courts-Martial: Current-Version Rule

The Joint Service Committee currently publishes the 2024 Manual for Courts-Martial as the current edition. Later presidential amendments must be layered onto that edition until a later MCM republishes them. Executive Order 14130, signed December 20, 2024, amended multiple Rules for Courts-Martial and is not yet included in a published MCM edition.

Primary source: JSC — Current MCM and updates

MJ-004 — Commanders, Convening Authorities, Judge Advocates & Special Trial Counsel

Do not assume the commander always controls prosecution. Article 24a gives special trial counsel statutory authority over covered offenses and related matters within the scope prescribed by law. The offense date and current statutory coverage matter.

Primary source: Article 24a — Special trial counsel

Investigation & Pretrial

MJ-005 — Apprehension, Restraint, Search & Seizure

Apprehension and restraint rules are distinct from the evidentiary rules governing searches, seizures, inspections, authorizations, and suppression. Preserve the order, authorization, affidavit or basis, inventory, chain of custody, and timing.

Primary source: MCM — R.C.M. and Military Rules of Evidence

MJ-006 — Article 31 Rights, Statements & Self-Incrimination

Article 31 prohibits compulsory self-incrimination and requires specified warnings before a person subject to the UCMJ interrogates or requests a statement from an accused or suspected person concerning the suspected offense. Admissibility also depends on the Military Rules of Evidence and case law.

Primary source: Article 31

MJ-007 — Counsel, Defense Rights & Representation

Military justice uses detailed military defense counsel, trial counsel, appellate counsel, and permitted civilian counsel. The relevant right and appointment rule depends on the stage of the proceeding.

Primary source: UCMJ — counsel provisions

MJ-008 — Article 15 Nonjudicial Punishment

Article 15 authorizes nonjudicial punishment subject to presidential and service regulations. Except for a member attached to or embarked in a vessel, the statute provides a pre-imposition demand-for-trial rule; the article also provides an appeal framework and addresses the relationship between NJP and later court-martial proceedings.

Primary source: Article 15

MJ-009 — Charges, Specifications & Preferral

A reported allegation, preferral of charges, referral to court-martial, and a finding of guilt are different events. Track the charge sheet, who preferred it, oath/certification, amendments, withdrawals, dismissal, referral, and service of charges separately.

Primary source: UCMJ pretrial procedure

MJ-010 — Article 32 Preliminary Hearing

Before referral to a general court-martial, Article 32 generally requires a preliminary hearing unless a valid statutory/regulatory waiver applies. Its purposes are limited: whether an offense is alleged, probable cause, court-martial jurisdiction, and a disposition recommendation.

Primary source: Article 32

MJ-011 — Referral, Court-Martial Types & Composition

Summary, special, and general courts-martial have different jurisdiction, composition, and sentencing authority. Referral identifies the court to which charges are sent; composition then turns on the applicable UCMJ and R.C.M. rules.

Primary source: UCMJ — jurisdiction and composition

Trial

MJ-012 — Discovery, Motions, Pleas & Pretrial Agreements

Pretrial litigation can include discovery and production, expert and witness requests, motions to suppress or dismiss, jurisdictional objections, pleas, and plea agreements. The specific R.C.M. version and any later amendment must be checked for the relevant date.

Primary source: JSC — MCM and amendments

MJ-013 — Military Rules of Evidence

The Military Rules of Evidence govern admissibility in courts-martial, including relevance, privileges, character evidence, hearsay, expert testimony, authentication, search-and-seizure remedies, confessions, and victim-related evidentiary protections.

Primary source: MCM — Military Rules of Evidence

MJ-014 — Trial Procedure, Findings & Burden of Proof

Trial procedure includes arraignment, motions, presentation and testing of evidence, instructions, deliberation, and findings. A preferred or referred charge remains an allegation; the accused is presumed innocent unless guilt is established through the court-martial process.

Primary source: Navy JAG — procedural status explanation

MJ-015 — Sentencing

Sentencing is a separate stage after findings. Identify which sentencing rules apply to the offense date and forum, what evidence may be presented, statutory limits, and the final adjudged sentence and judgment.

Primary source: MCM — sentencing rules

MJ-016 — Victim Rights, Participation & Review

Article 6b provides specified rights including protection, notice, participation, reasonable hearing opportunities, fairness, dignity, privacy, and a mechanism for certain enforcement petitions to a Court of Criminal Appeals.

Primary source: Article 6b

Post-Trial & Review

MJ-017 — Record of Trial, Entry of Judgment & Post-Trial Processing

Preserve the charge sheet, convening/referral documents, motions and rulings, exhibits, findings, sentence, Statement of Trial Results, entry of judgment, post-trial submissions, action where applicable, and appellate forwarding history.

Primary source: MCM — post-trial rules

MJ-018 — Courts of Criminal Appeals

Each service appellate system reviews cases under statutory authority that includes Article 66 and related provisions; other routes include government appeals, cases referred by a Judge Advocate General, new-trial petitions, victim petitions, and extraordinary relief when jurisdiction exists.

Primary source: Navy-Marine Corps courts example

MJ-019 — CAAF & Supreme Court Review

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces exercises worldwide appellate jurisdiction over persons subject to the UCMJ within its statutory jurisdiction. Its current Rules of Practice and Procedure became effective October 1, 2026. CAAF decisions can be subject to Supreme Court review as authorized by statute.

Primary source: CAAF — Rules effective October 1, 2026

MJ-020 — New Trial, Clemency, Extraordinary Relief & Finality

Post-conviction routes are not interchangeable. A petition for new trial, a direct appeal, an extraordinary writ, clemency/parole, administrative correction, and collateral review each have different authorities, standards, forums, and deadlines.

Primary source: Current UCMJ

Code & Public Access

MJ-021 — Punitive Articles Index

UCMJ Articles 77 through 134 contain the punitive-article framework. Always identify the offense text and MCM explanation applicable to the alleged conduct date; amendments can change elements, definitions, defenses, sentencing consequences, or jurisdictional handling.

Primary source: UCMJ punitive articles

MJ-022 — Public Dockets, Filings, Records & Article 140a

Article 140a requires uniform standards for military-justice case management, records of trial, and facilitation of public access to docket information, filings, and records, while preserving privacy, sealing, and classification limits. It also requires preservation of general and special court-martial records for at least 15 years.

Primary source: Article 140a

MJ-023 — Service Regulations, JAG Manuals & Rules of Court

The UCMJ and MCM are common foundations, but each service can add implementation regulations, practice rules, forms, routing systems, and local court rules. A Navy rule is not automatically an Army, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard rule.

Primary source: Service implementation example — Navy JAG

Connected MilitaryClaims library layers

Publication and maintenance rule

Military justice is version-sensitive. The registry separately tracks the UCMJ, current MCM publication, post-publication executive orders, CAAF rules, service regulations, and public court-record systems. Every substantive page should state the authority version and verification date rather than treating “the UCMJ” or “the MCM” as a timeless single document.

Military Justice Guides — Complete 23-Topic Library

Every stable MJ-001 through MJ-023 registry topic now has a dedicated page. The hub remains the master procedural map; the child guides add records-to-preserve, version-control, service-routing, and primary-source detail.

Official Source Catalog · Forms & Systems · Authorities