2018 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States
Signed March 1, 2018·Donald Trump·83 FR 9889
Source
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Plain-language summary
Amends the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, which implements the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by prescribing two sets of changes. Annex 1 amendments take effect immediately, while Annex 2 amendments, including a new appendix, take effect January 1, 2019, aligning with the effective date of the Military Justice Act of 2016. The order specifies that none of these changes make previously lawful conduct punishable retroactively, that pending prosecutions, investigations, and nonjudicial punishment proceedings begun before the relevant effective dates continue under prior rules, and that maximum punishments are capped at levels in effect when an offense occurred. It sets detailed transition rules for specific Uniform Code of Military Justice articles covering sentencing, convening authority actions, preliminary hearings, and nonjudicial punishment. It also directs the Secretary of Defense, consulting with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to issue nonbinding guidance for commanders and legal officers on disposing of charges, informed by Department of Justice principles on fair federal prosecution practices. Applies to military justice personnel and service members.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Claimed authority
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. 801-946), and in order to prescribe amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, prescribed by Executive Order 12473 of April 13, 1984, as amended, it is hereby ordered
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Disposition
See: EO 12473, April 13, 1984
Compiled after the fact by the National Archives, so recent orders often have none yet. An empty disposition means no record, not no activity.
The order, in full
Executive Order 13825 of March 1, 2018
2018 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial,
United States
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including chapter 47 of title 10, United
States Code (Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ),
10 U.S.C. 801-946), and in order to prescribe
amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United
States, prescribed by Executive Order 12473 of April
13, 1984, as amended, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Part II, Part III, and Part IV of the Manual
for Courts-Martial, United States, are amended as
described in Annex 1, which is attached to and made a
part of this order.
Sec. 2. The amendments in Annex 1 shall take effect on
the date of this order, subject to the following:
(a) Nothing in Annex 1 shall be construed to make
punishable any act done or omitted prior to the date of
this order that was not punishable when done or
omitted.
(b) Nothing in Annex 1 shall be construed to
invalidate the prosecution of any offense committed
before the date of this order. The maximum punishment
for an offense committed before the date of this order
shall not exceed the maximum punishment in effect at
the time of the commission of such offense.
(c) Nothing in Annex 1 shall be construed to
invalidate any nonjudicial punishment proceeding,
restraint, investigation, referral of charges, trial in
which arraignment occurred, or other action begun prior
to the date of this order, and any such nonjudicial
punishment proceeding, restraint, investigation,
referral of charges, trial in which arraignment
occurred, or other action shall proceed in the same
manner and with the same effect as if the amendments in
Annex 1 had not been prescribed.
Sec. 3. (a) Pursuant to section 5542 of the Military
Justice Act of 2016 (MJA), division E of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Public
Law 114-328, 130 Stat. 2000, 2967 (2016), except as
otherwise provided by the MJA or this order, the MJA
shall take effect on January 1, 2019.
(b) Nothing in the MJA shall be construed to make
punishable any act done or omitted prior to January 1,
2019, that was not punishable when done or omitted.
(c) Nothing in title LX of the MJA shall be
construed to invalidate the prosecution of any offense
committed before January 1, 2019. The maximum
punishment for an offense committed before January 1,
2019, shall not exceed the maximum punishment in effect
at the time of the commission of such offense.
(d) Nothing in the MJA shall be construed to
invalidate any nonjudicial punishment proceeding,
restraint, investigation, referral of charges, trial in
which arraignment occurred, or other action begun prior
to January 1, 2019. Except as otherwise provided in
this order, the MJA shall not apply in any case in
which charges are referred to trial by court-martial
before January 1, 2019. Except as otherwise provided in
this order, proceedings in any such case shall be held
in the same manner and with the same effect as if the
MJA had not been enacted.
Sec. 4. The Manual for Courts-Martial, United States,
as amended by section 1 of this order, is amended as
described in Annex 2, which is attached to and made a
part of this order.
Sec. 5. The amendments in Annex 2, including Appendix
12A, shall take effect on January 1, 2019, subject to
the following:
(a) Nothing in Annex 2 shall be construed to make
punishable any act done or omitted prior to January 1,
2019, that was not punishable when done or omitted.
(b) Nothing in section 4 of Annex 2 shall be
construed to invalidate the prosecution of any offense
committed before January 1, 2019. The maximum
punishment for an offense committed before January 1,
2019, shall not exceed the maximum punishment in effect
at the time of the commission of such offense.
(c) Nothing in Annex 2 shall be construed to
invalidate any nonjudicial punishment proceeding,
restraint, investigation, referral of charges, trial in
which arraignment occurred, or other action begun prior
to January 1, 2019. Except as otherwise provided in
this order, the amendments in Annex 2 shall not apply
in any case in which charges are referred to trial by
court-martial before January 1, 2019. Except as
otherwise provided in this order, proceedings in any
such case shall be held in the same manner and with the
same effect as if such amendments had not been
prescribed.
Sec. 6. (a) The amendments to Articles 2, 56(d), 58a,
and 63 of the UCMJ enacted by sections 5102, 5301,
5303, and 5327 of the MJA apply only to cases in which
all specifications allege offenses committed on or
after January 1, 2019.
(b) If the accused is found guilty of a
specification alleging the commission of one or more
offenses before January 1, 2019, Article 60 of the
UCMJ, as in effect on the date of the earliest offense
of which the accused was found guilty, shall apply to
the convening authority, in addition to the suspending
authority in Article 60a(c) as enacted by the MJA, to
the extent that Article 60:
(1) requires action by the convening authority on the sentence;
(2) permits action by the convening authority on findings;
(3) authorizes the convening authority to modify the findings and sentence
of a court-martial, dismiss any charge or specification by setting aside a
finding of guilty thereto, or change a finding of guilty to a charge or
specification to a finding of guilty to an offense that is a lesser
included offense of the offense stated in the charge or specification;
(4) authorizes the convening authority to order a proceeding in revision or
a rehearing; or
(5) authorizes the convening authority to approve, disapprove, commute, or
suspend a sentence in whole or in part.
Sec. 7. The amendment to Article 15 of the UCMJ enacted
by section 5141 of the MJA shall apply to any
nonjudicial punishment imposed on or after January 1,
2019.
Sec. 8. The amendments to Articles 32 and 34 of the
UCMJ enacted by sections 5203 and 5205 of the MJA apply
with respect to preliminary hearings conducted and
advice given on or after January 1, 2019.
Sec. 9. The amendments to Article 79 of the UCMJ
enacted by section 5402 of the MJA and the amendments
to Appendix 12A to the Manual for Courts-Martial,
United States, made by this order apply only to
offenses committed on or after January 1, 2019.
Sec. 10. Except as provided by Rule for Courts-Martial
902A, as promulgated by Annex 2, any change to
sentencing procedures:
(a) made by Articles 16(c)(2), 19(b), 25(d)(2) and
(3), 39(a)(4), 53, 53a, or 56(c) of the UCMJ, as
enacted by sections 5161, 5163, 5182, 5222, 5236, 5237,
and 5301 of the MJA; or
(b) included in Annex 2 in rules implementing those
articles, applies only to cases in which all
specifications allege offenses committed on or after
January 1, 2019.
Sec. 11. The amendments to Article 146 of the UCMJ
enacted by section 5521 of the MJA and the new Article
146a enacted by section 5522 of the MJA shall take
effect on the day after the report for fiscal year 2017
required by Article 146(c) of the UCMJ (as in effect
before the MJA's amendments) is submitted in accordance
with Article 146(c)(1), but in no event later than
December 1, 2018.
Sec. 12. In accordance with Article 33 of the UCMJ, as
amended by section 5204 of the MJA, the Secretary of
Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland
Security, will issue nonbinding guidance regarding
factors that commanders, convening authorities, staff
judge advocates, and judge advocates should take into
account when exercising their duties with respect to
the disposition of charges and specifications in the
interest of justice and discipline under Articles 30
and 34 of the UCMJ. That guidance will take into
account, with appropriate consideration of military
requirements, the principles contained in official
guidance of the Attorney General to attorneys for the
Federal Government with respect to the disposition of
Federal criminal cases in accordance with the principle
of fair and evenhanded administration of Federal
criminal law.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 1, 2018.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed March 1, 2018. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.