Taking Charge of Court-Martial Charges: The Important Role of the Commander in the American Military Justice System
The authors address the repeated efforts to remove the commander, a commissioned officer in command or an officer in charge, from the military justice system and adopt a system that mirrors the procedures used in foreign countries for preferring charges, referring them to trial, and selecting court members. They offer a number of arguments for retaining the commander’s role and offer a comparative analysis of the American military justice system and several other countries’ military justice systems. They urge Congress not to adopt the procedures used in foreign countries absent clear evidence that doing so will greatly enhance American military justice. They conclude there are insufficient reasons to make dramatic changes to the American system; changes they believe would undermine the commander’s authority to enforce discipline and justice.
