{"id":353854,"date":"2016-04-04T10:47:07","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/military\/criminal-law\/the-court-martial-process.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T20:25:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T01:25:07","slug":"the-court-martial-process","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/military\/criminal-law\/the-court-martial-process.html","title":{"rendered":"The Court Martial Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Court Martial Process<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

A military judge presides over special courts-martial; a defense attorney is assigned to the accused under certain circumstances; and a trial attorney is assigned to the prosecution. A panel of three service members decides the facts of the case unless the accused specifically requests a judge to do so. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A court-martial is a criminal trial for members of the military who are accused of committing the crimes listed in the "Punitive Articles" section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice<\/a> (UCMJ). Some of these crimes, such as larceny, arson, manslaughter, or conspiracy, are similar to civilian crimes. Others, such as desertion, mutiny, and insubordination, are specific to the military.<\/p>\r\n

All service members who violate the UCMJ, regardless of their branch of service, are subject to a potential court-martial. Specifically, the UCMJ applies to:<\/p>\r\n