Military Courts-Martial: An Overview

Abstract

The recent reports of abuse of prisoners held by the military in Iraq have raised questions about how the Armed Forces discipline and punish those who commit crimes or violate the rules and regulations of the military. Congress, under the authorities vested in it, enacted a code of military laws, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The President, by Executive Order, has, in turn, established standards and procedures for prosecuting violators of the UCMJ and certain other laws. Military criminal courts are known as courts-martial. This report provides an overview of military courts-martial: who can be tried, potential punishments, and the appeals process.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 26, 2004
Accession Number
ADA463015

Entities

People

  • Estela I. Velez Pollack

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Congress
  • Court Martial
  • Criminals
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Law
  • Law Enforcement
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Hospitals
  • Military Law
  • Prisoners
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Public Health
  • Supreme Court
  • United States

Readers

  • Criminal Law
  • Government and Public Administration Law.