The focus of this guide is research into issues surrounding prosecution of individuals in the United States as part of the court-martial procedures under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The focus of the guide is not on the operation of military tribunals under alternate authority.
Those unfamiliar with the military may have difficulty with the definition of terms or the many acronyms used in the military. The sources listed below will assist the unfamiliar in developing an understanding of terms.
If you are not familiar with the topic, you may find that a research guide is a useful tool to assist you with your research. You should review the date the research guide was last updated. Using a research guides updated in the last year will help ensure you are relying on current information. However, if you are conducting historical research, an older guide may be helpful.
Below are two sample research guides on military justice or military law topics:
1) Published in 2004, Reporting for Duty: A Primer on Researching Military Justice in Law Library Lights, the newsletter of the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C., is an excellent source to assist in military justice research.
2) Kerri-Ann Rowe, University of North Carolina Law Library, Military Law Research (updated April 2022)
Additional resources that may be helpful include:
1) George Washington University, Military Justice Research (updated September 2022).
2) Library of Congress, Military Legal Resources (No date).
R. Chuck Mason, Military Justice: Courts-Martial, An Overview, Congressional Research Service (March 31, 2011)
Military Justice: Courts-Martial, An Overview, reports on the military justice system setting forth the types of courts-martial, the basis for convening a courts-martial, and compares the Constitutional safeguards available in the civilian court system with safeguards put in place by the Uniform Code of Military Justice for military courts.
In 2009 the Air Force began to provide a docket of courts-martial.
Links to various Navy judicial circuits are available via the U.S. Navy JAG Corps Trial Judiciary webpage.
The Army also provides a tool to locate court-martial docket information at https://www.jagcnet.army.mil/Apps/eDocket/eDocketPublic.nsf.
Each service has a deskbook or other resource that outlines general military justice concepts as well as service specific details regarding the administration of justice based on differences in service regulations and instructions. Below are links to information about several such resources. Links to the full-text sources are provided when available.
