Amendment of Section
Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LIX, § 5329, title LXIII, § 5542,
Dec. 23, 2016
,
130 Stat. 2930, 2967, provided that, effective on the date designated by the President, not later than the first day of the first calendar month beginning two years after
Dec. 23, 2016
, with implementing regulations prescribed by the President not later than one year after
Dec. 23, 2016
, and with provisions relating to applicability to various situations, this section is amended to read as follows:
§ 865. Art. 65. Transmittal and review of records
(a) Transmittal of Records.—
(1)
Finding of guilty in general or special court-martial.—If the judgment of a general or special court-martial entered under
section 860c of this title (article 60c) includes a finding of guilty, the record shall be transmitted to the Judge Advocate General.
(2) Other cases.—In all other cases, records of trial by court-martial and related documents shall be transmitted and disposed of as the Secretary concerned may prescribe by regulation.
(b) Cases for Direct Appeal.—
(1)
Automatic review.—If the judgment includes a sentence of death, dismissal of a commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman, dishonorable discharge or bad-conduct discharge, or confinement for 2 years or more, the Judge Advocate General shall forward the record of trial to the Court of Criminal Appeals for review under
section 866(b)(2) of this title (article 66(b)(2)).
(2) Cases eligible for direct appeal review.—
(i) forward a copy of the record of trial to an appellate defense counsel who shall be detailed to review the case and, upon request of the accused, to represent the accused before the Court of Criminal Appeals; and
(ii) upon written request of the accused, forward a copy of the record of trial to civilian counsel provided by the accused.
(B) Inapplicability.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if the accused—
(ii) declines in writing the detailing of appellate defense counsel under subparagraph (A)(i).
(c) Notice of Right to Appeal.—
(1)
In general.—The Judge Advocate General shall provide notice to the accused of the right to file an appeal under
section 866(b)(1) of this title (article 66(b)(1)) by means of depositing in the United States mails for delivery by first class certified mail to the accused at an address provided by the accused or, if no such address has been provided by the accused, at the latest address listed for the accused in the official service record of the accused.
(2)
Inapplicability upon waiver of appeal.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply if the accused waives the right to appeal under
section 861 of this title (article 61).
(d) Review by Judge Advocate General.—
(1) By whom.—A review conducted under this subsection may be conducted by an attorney within the Office of the Judge Advocate General or another attorney designated under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned.
(2) Review of cases not eligible for direct appeal.—
(A)
In general.—A review under subparagraph (B) shall be completed in each general and special court-martial that is not eligible for direct appeal under paragraph (1) or (3) of
section 866(b) of this title (article 66(b)).
(B) Scope of review.—A review referred to in subparagraph (A) shall include a written decision providing each of the following:
(i) A conclusion as to whether the court had jurisdiction over the accused and the offense.
(ii) A conclusion as to whether the charge and specification stated an offense.
(iii) A conclusion as to whether the sentence was within the limits prescribed as a matter of law.
(iv) A response to each allegation of error made in writing by the accused.
(3) Review when direct appeal is waived, withdrawn, or not filed.—
(A) In general.—A review under subparagraph (B) shall be completed in each general and special court-martial if—
(ii) the accused does not file a timely appeal in a case eligible for direct appeal under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of
section 866(b)(1) of this title (article 66(b)(1)).
(B) Scope of review.—A review referred to in subparagraph (A) shall include a written decision limited to providing conclusions on the matters specified in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph (2)(B).
(e) Remedy.—
(1) In general.—If after a review of a record under subsection (d), the attorney conducting the review believes corrective action may be required, the record shall be forwarded to the Judge Advocate General, who may set aside the findings or sentence, in whole or in part.
(2)
Rehearing.—In setting aside findings or sentence, the Judge Advocate General may order a rehearing, except that a rehearing may not be ordered in violation of
section 844 of this title (article 44).
(3) Remedy without rehearing.—
(A) Dismissal when no rehearing ordered.—If the Judge Advocate General sets aside findings and sentence and does not order a rehearing, the Judge Advocate General shall dismiss the charges.
(B) Dismissal when rehearing impractical.—If the Judge Advocate General sets aside findings and orders a rehearing and the convening authority determines that a rehearing would be impractical, the convening authority shall dismiss the charges.
See 2016 Amendment note below.
Amendments
2016—
Pub. L. 114–328 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to disposition of records.
1983—Pub. L. 98–209 amended section generally, substituting “Disposition of records” for “Disposition of records after review by the convening authority” in section catchline, and, in text, substituting provisions relating to disposition of records for prior provisions relating to disposition of records that required when the convening authority had taken final action in a general court-martial case, he had to send the entire record, including his action thereon and the opinion or opinions of the staff judge advocate or legal officer, to the appropriate Judge Advocate General, required that where sentences of special courts-martial included a bad-conduct discharge, the record had to be sent for review either to the officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction over the command to be reviewed or directly to the appropriate Judge Advocate General to be reviewed by a Court of Military Review, and required that all other special and summary court-martial records had to be reviewed by a judge advocate of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, or a law specialist or lawyer of the Coast Guard or Department of Transportation, and had to be transmitted and disposed of as the Secretary concerned might prescribe by regulation.
1980—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–513 substituted “Department of Transportation” for “Department of the Treasury”.
1968—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 90–632 substituted “Court of Military Review” for “board of review” wherever appearing.
1967—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 90–179 inserted reference to judge advocate of the Marine Corps and substituted reference to judge advocate of the Navy for reference to law specialist of the Navy.