The U.S. Magistrate's court system

ANSWER:

YES.

THIS WOULD BE A SITUATION OF CONCURRENT JURISDICTION, BETWEEN THE

UNITED STATES AND THE FOREIGN GOVERNMENT, DEPENDING ON THE LAWS OF THE

OTHER NATION. AN AMERICAN (SOLDIER OR CIVILIAN) WHO COMMITS A CRIME IN A

FOREIGN COUNTRY IS SUBJECT TO THE LAWS OF THAT NATION. WE WILL RETURN TO

THIS ISSUE SHORTLY.

h. The U.S. Magistrate's court system. As we have already seen, a civilian

who commits a crime on post may be apprehended by military law enforcement

officials.

Since there is no court-martial jurisdiction over civilians, except

during declared wars, the civilian offender can only be prosecuted in civilian

court. Not all crimes, however, are going to be referred to the U.S. Attorney for

prosecution. While felonies will generally be so referred, this is not true of all

misdemeanors. The U.S. Attorney's Office may be too involved with the prosecution

of other felony cases to handle all of the military cases, particularly the

misdemeanors.

An alternative is the U.S. Magistrate's Court System: "Any

individual military or civilian, who commits a misdemeanor in an area of exclusive

or concurrent federal jurisdiction a military installation located within the

judicial district of a U.S. District Court may be prosecuted before a U.S.

Magistrate." (AR 27-40, paragraph 6-5a.)

The U.S. Magistrate is a federal judge "designated to try misdemeanors

committed on an installation." (AR 27-40, paragraph 6-5b.) An attorney from the

SJA office will normally act as the prosecutor (AR 27-40, paragraph 6-3-1).

The

Magistrate "shall have jurisdiction to try persons accused of, and sentence persons

convicted of, misdemeanors." (18 USC Section 3401a.) The U.S. Magistrate's Court

also has jurisdiction over juveniles who commit on-post misdemeanors (18 USC

Section 3401(g).

The purposes of this system include "convenience to the public" and the

"enforcement of misdemeanor laws on Army installations." (AR 190-29, paragraph 6.)

It is a federal court, as was noted.

Cases most frequently tried here include

larceny, assault, and traffic offenses. Since the court's jurisdiction is limited

to the trial of misdemeanor cases, it may not impose a sentence of imprisonment in

excess of one year. The magistrate may not sentence a juvenile who is tried as a

juvenile to any period of confinement. [18 USC Section 3401(g)].

Offenders are cited to appear in U.S. Magistrate's Court by the issuance of

DD Form 1805 (Citation).

Some offenses allow for a mail-in fine, while others

require a court appearance (AR 190-29, paragraph 7). The trial of a juvenile may

necessitate a certification by the U.S.

Attorney that the state juvenile court

"lacks jurisdiction, refuses to assume jurisdiction, or does not have adequate

programs and services available."

(AR 190-29, paragraph 15.)

This will, of

course, require coordination between the SJA and the local civil authorities.

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