A court-martial lawyer represents either the government or the defendant in a military court, presenting the government’s case in the same way a civilian prosecutor would. A court-martial lawyer has generally completed legal education at an accredited law school in the United States and has been admitted to the bar of any state or federal court’s highest court. These officers are designated judge advocates after being commissioned in the US military and receiving special military legal training.
Members of the United States military are governed the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which requires the military to prosecute all violations as criminal cases in court-martial proceedings. A court-martial is an ad hoc body called the convening authority (CA) convened the commanding officer to adjudicate a single case. A court-martial can be one of three types. For minor offenses, a summary court-martial is convened; one officer is assigned to hear the case, with no prosecutor or defense counsel, and the punishment options are limited. Special and General Courts-Martial are convened for more serious offenses and are structured similarly to civilian courts, in that they are presided over military judges and prosecuted and defended lawyers.
The trial counsel, who is a judge advocate assigned to the case the appropriate military justice command, is the court-martial lawyer responsible for prosecuting the case. Defense counsel is usually a judge advocate appointed at no cost to the defendant, but the defendant has the option of hiring civilian counsel. The defendant pays for civilian counsel, but the judge advocate assigned to the case remains on the case and assists the civilian defense counsel.
A panel of military personnel will be chosen the CA to serve as a jury, though they may be challenged counsel and dismissed the judge if necessary. A defendant may also opt out of having a panel and instead have the verdict decided solely the judge.
The trial counsel, like the prosecutor in a civilian criminal case, is responsible for representing the government in the case. The trial counsel has two responsibilities that a civilian prosecutor does not have: preparing the case record under the judge’s supervision and administering the oath to witnesses. The trial counsel is also in charge of conducting any necessary investigations to gather additional evidence once appointed.
A military defense lawyer’s responsibilities are similar to those of a civilian criminal defense lawyer. All are related to the accused’s zealous defense; however, a military trial has one feature that a civilian trial usually lacks. Although the commanding officer convenes a court-martial and selects the jury, these individuals are expected to render justice impartially and without regard for “command influence.” That is, even if they are aware of the commander’s thoughts on the case and desired outcome, which is legal, this information may not influence their interpretation of the law or the evidence presented. Similarly, panel deliberations must be free of command interference. When acting as a defense attorney in a court-martial, a court-martial lawyer must be aware of the possibility of command influence and, if it appears, challenge it.
While the responsibilities of a court-martial lawyer are similar to those of corresponding counsel in criminal cases in civilian courts, the responsibilities of both trial counsel and defense counsel are unique to the military justice system.