MJ-006 · MILITARY JUSTICE
Article 31 Rights, Statements & Self-Incrimination
MJ-006: Article 31 creates military-specific protections governing compulsory self-incrimination and specified questioning of accused or suspected persons.
Start with the controlling authority
Working procedure
- Identify who asked the questions, their military status or role, and why the questioning occurred.
- Identify when the person became an accused or suspect and what offense was suspected.
- Preserve the exact warning given, any rights acknowledgment/waiver, recording, notes, and statement.
- Analyze Article 31 separately from Miranda/Fifth Amendment issues and from voluntariness/admissibility under the M.R.E.
- Preserve suppression motions, rulings, and any appellate treatment.
Records to preserve
MREC-12 legal proceedings; MREC-17 personal papers/recordings where lawfully held.
Version and service discipline
Military justice is version-sensitive. Match the offense date, procedural date, service, forum, and filing date to the governing statute, MCM/R.C.M./M.R.E. version, presidential amendments, service regulation, and court rules. The 2024 MCM must be checked against later operative amendments before treating it as complete current procedure.
