Art. 25. Who May Serve on Courts-Martial

person of the limits of the arrest. The order of arrest may be oral or written. A person to be confined is placed under guard and taken to the place of confinement. Art. 12. Confinement with Enemy Prisoners Prohibited No member of the armed forces may be p l a c e d i n c o n fi n e m e n t i n i m m e d i a t e association with enemy prisoners or other foreign nationals not members of the armed forces. Members of the armed forces may be confined in the same jails, prisons, or other confinement facilities, however, so long as they are separated from the other categories mentioned. Art. 13. Punishment Prohibited Before Trial No person, while being held for trial, may be subjected to punishment or penalty other than arrest or confinement upon the charges pending against him, nor shall the arrest or confinement imposed upon him be any more rigorous than the circumstances required to ensure his presence, but he may be subjected to minor punishment during that period for infractions of discipline. The minor punishment permitted under article 13 includes that authorized for violations of discipline set forth by the place in which the person is confined. The article does not prevent a person from being required to do ordinary cleaning or policing or from taking part in routine training and duties not involving the bearing of arms. Art. 14. Delivery of Offenders to Civil Authorities (a) U n d e r s u c h r e g u l a t i o n s a s t h e Secretary concerned may prescribe, a member of the armed forces accused of an offense against civil authority may be delivered, upon request, to the civil authority for trial. (b) When delivery under this article is made to any civil authority of a person undergoing sentence of a court-martial, the delivery, if followed by conviction in a civil tribunal, interrupts the execution of the sentence of the court-martial, and the offender after having answered to the civil authorities for this offense shall, upon the request of competent military authority, be returned to military custody for the completion of his sentence. Art. 15. Commanding Officer’s Nonjudicial Punishment Article 15 explains commanding officers’ n o n j u d i c i a l p u n i s h m e n t . Fo r s o m e o ff e n s e s , commanders may offer an article 15 instead of court-martial. If accepted, the commander may impose punishment as permitted by regulations (usually at captain’s mast). Receiving an article 15 is not a conviction, and it does not give a person a criminal record. This article will be explained in greater detail later in this chapter under “Nonjudicial Punishment.” Art. 25. Who May Serve on Courts-Martial A n y c o m m i s s i o n e d o ffi c e r, i n c l u d i n g commissioned warrant officers, on active duty with the armed forces is eligible to serve on a court-martial. Any warrant officer on active duty with the armed forces is eligible to serve on a general court-martial (GCM) and special court-martial (SPCM) for the trial of any person, other than a commissioned officer. Any enlisted person on active duty with the armed forces who is not a member of the same unit as the accused is eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial of enlisted persons. However, enlisted personnel may serve as a member of a court-martial only if, before the assembling of such court, the accused has personally requested in writing that enlisted personnel serve as members of the court. Art. 27. Detail of Trial Counsel and Defense Counsel Each general and special court-martial must have a trial counsel and a defense counsel, with such assistants as the convening authority deems necessary. The terms counsel, trial counsel, and defense counsel should be interpreted to mean the detailed counsel named in the 2-19 Student Notes: