MJ-002 · MILITARY JUSTICE
Who Is Subject to the UCMJ & Court-Martial Jurisdiction
MJ-002: UCMJ jurisdiction begins with status. The correct analysis identifies who was subject to the Code, when that status existed, what conduct is alleged, and which court-martial had statutory authority over the person and offense.
Controlling authorities
Working procedure
- Identify component and status: regular component, Reserve or National Guard status, active duty, inactive-duty training, retirement or other statutory category.
- Build a status timeline around the alleged conduct. Orders, duty periods, travel status, accession and separation dates can be jurisdictional evidence.
- Analyze personal jurisdiction separately from the court-martial’s subject-matter and forum authority.
- Identify whether Article 3 or another continuation rule is asserted when service status changed before prosecution.
- Preserve every jurisdictional motion, ruling and supporting personnel record.
Records to preserve
Orders and duty-status records; accession and separation records; DD-214 or equivalent; retirement or reserve-status records; charge sheet; referral documents; convening order; jurisdictional motions and rulings.
Version control
Match the offense date, procedural date, service, forum and filing date to the governing UCMJ text, MCM/R.C.M./M.R.E. version, later presidential amendments, service rule and court rule. The 2024 MCM remains the current published edition, but later operative amendments must be checked before treating it as complete current procedure.
Registry sources: SRC-173; SRC-174; SRC-175 · Last verified: October 4, 2026 · Review cadence: 30 days
