scope:

a. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) authorize "the Secretary concerned" or "the Judge Advocate General concerned" to prescribe regulations implementing or supplementing certain provisions of the UCMJ or the MCM. This Chapter provides those regulations and additional regulations relating to military justice.

b. Part A contains regulations and procedures governing nonpunitive corrective measures. Part B contains regulations and procedures relating to nonjudicial punishment (NJP). Part C pertains to trial by court-martial and is divided into three subparts concerning the pretrial, trial, and post-trial stages of the courts-martial process. Part D contains miscellaneous provisions.

c. This chapter is updated to incorporate significant military justice reforms in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA), including the establishment of the Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) and duties and authorities of special trial counsel (STC). These duties include the STC's exercise of authority over covered, related, and known offenses or the deferral of an offense back to the commander. See Article 24a, UCMJ; see also Rules for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 103(12) for the definition of "exercise authority over" and R.C.M. 103(10) and JAGMAN, 0128 for the definition of "deferral."

d. Unless otherwise specified in this Chapter, the term "trial counsel" refers to any individual detailed as trial counsel at court-martial in accordance with Article 27, UCMJ, R.C.M. 503(c), and JAGMAN 0130b, and sworn under Article 42(a), UCMJ. "Trial counsel" may include an STC, who is any officer qualified, certified, and assigned as an STC. See Article 24a(b), UCMJ; R.C.M. 103(24).

Purpose.

This change is issued to incorporate the change to Chapter I published by reference (a). This change provides significant updates to regulations implementing and supplementing the Manual for Courts-Martial in accordance with the latest requirements.