Title 38

When calculating forfeiture punishments under this article for nonactive duty members of the Georgia National Guard, each unit training assembly shall constitute a day. Otherwise, any punishment authorized by this article which is measured in terms of days shall mean successive d…

(a) This article shall be applicable at all times and in all places, provided that either the person subject to this article is in a duty status or, if not in a duty status, that there is a nexus between the act or omission constituting an offense under this article and the effic…

(a) The Governor, on the recommendation of the adjutant general, shall appoint an individual to serve as the state judge advocate. To be eligible for such appointment, such individual shall be a judge advocate, a member of the State Bar of Georgia in good standing for not less th…

(a) Any person authorized by this article or Chapter 47 of Title 10 of the United States Code, or by regulations issued under either, to take persons into custody subject to this article, any marshal of a court-martial appointed pursuant to the provisions of this article, and any…

(a) An enlisted member may be ordered into arrest or confinement by any commander in the grade of O-4 or above by an order, oral or written, delivered in person or through any other person who is subject to this article. A commander in the grade of O-4 or above may authorize commi…

Any person subject to this article who is charged with an offense under this article shall be ordered into arrest or confinement by the adjutant general, as circumstances may require. When any person subject to this article is placed in arrest or confinement prior to trial, immedia…

Confinement and imprisonment other than in a guard house, whether prior to, during, or after trial by a military court, shall be executed in jails or correctional institutions designated by the Governor, or by the adjutant general under delegation by the Governor, for that purpose…

No member of the organized militia shall be placed in confinement in immediate association with enemy prisoners. History. — Code 1981, § 38-2-1012, enacted by Ga. L. 2015, p. 753, § 1/HB 98.

No person, while being held for trial or awaiting a verdict, shall be subjected to punishment or penalty other than arrest or confinement upon the charges pending against him or her, nor shall the arrest or confinement imposed upon such person be any more rigorous than the circumst…

(a) A person who is subject to this article and accused of an offense against civil authority shall be delivered, upon request, to the civil authority for trial or confinement. (b) When delivery under this article is made to any civil authority of a person undergoing sentence of a…

(a) Under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Governor pursuant to Part 1 of Article 2 of this chapter, or the adjutant general under delegation by the Governor, any commanding officer may impose disciplinary punishments for minor offenses without the intervention of a c…

There shall be three kinds of courts-martial in the organized militia: (1) General courts-martial, which shall consist of: (A) A military judge and not less than six members; or (B) Only a military judge, if, before the court is assembled, the accused, knowing the identity of the…

Each force of the organized militia has court-martial jurisdiction over all members of the particular force of the organized militia who are subject to this article. The Georgia Army National Guard and the Georgia Air National Guard shall have court-martial jurisdiction over all …

Subject to Code Section 38-2-1017, general courts-martial shall have jurisdiction to try persons subject to this article for any offense made punishable by this article, and shall, under such limitations as the Governor may prescribe pursuant to Part 1 of Article 2 of this chapte…

Subject to Code Section 38-2-1017, special courts-martial shall have jurisdiction to try persons subject to this article for any offense made punishable by this article, and shall, under such limitations as the Governor, or the adjutant general by delegation of the Governor, may …

(a) Subject to Code Section 38-2-1017, summary courts-martial shall have jurisdiction to try persons subject to this article, except for commissioned or warrant officers, cadets, candidates, and midshipmen, for any offense made punishable by this article under such limitations as…

(a) General courts-martial may be convened by the Governor. The Governor may delegate the authority to convene general courts-martial to the adjutant general, but such authority shall not be delegated further. (b) If the Governor is the accuser, the general court-martial shall be…

(a) Special courts-martial may be convened by the Governor, the adjutant general, the assistant adjutant general for army, or the assistant adjutant general for air. (b) If any individual in subsection (a) of this Code section is an accuser, the special court-martial shall be con…

(a) Summary courts-martial may be convened by: (1) Any person authorized to convene a special court-martial under subsection (a) of Code Section 38-2-1023; or (2) Any commander in the grade of O-6 or above. (b) If any individual listed in subsection (a) of this Code section is an…

(a) For purposes of this Code section, the term ‘‘unit’’ means any regularly organized body of the organized militia not larger than a company, a squadron, a division of the naval militia, or a body corresponding to one of them. (b) Any commissioned officer of the organized milit…

(a) A military judge shall be detailed to each general and special court-martial by the authority convening a general or special court-martial. The military judge shall preside over each open session of the court-martial to which the military judge has been detailed. (b) A milita…

(a)(1) For each general and special court-martial the convening authority shall detail a trial counsel and such assistants as appropriate. (2) For each general and special court-martial, if the United States Army Trial Defense Services or a similar entity exists, such entity shal…

Under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Governor pursuant to Part 1 of Article 2 of this chapter, the convening authority of a general or special court-martial or court of inquiry shall detail or employ qualified court reporters who shall record the proceedings of and t…

(a) No member of a general or special court-martial shall be absent or excused after the court has been assembled for the trial of the accused unless excused as a result of a challenge, excused by the military judge for physical disability or other good cause, or excused by order…

(a) Charges and specifications shall be signed by a person subject to this article under oath before a commissioned officer authorized by Code Section 38-2-1136 to administer oaths and shall state: (1) That the signer has personal knowledge of, or has investigated, the matters set…

(a) No person subject to this article shall compel any person to incriminate himself or herself or to answer any question the answer to which may tend to incriminate him or her. (b) No person subject to this article shall interrogate or request any statement from an accused or a …

(a) No charge or specification shall be referred to a general court-martial for trial until a thorough and impartial investigation of all the matters set forth therein has been made unless such investigation has been waived in writing by the accused after consultation with his or …

When a person is held for trial by general court-martial, the commanding officer shall, within three days after the accused is ordered into arrest or confinement, forward the charges, together with the investigation and allied papers, to the person exercising general court-martial…

(a) Before directing the trial of any charge by general or special court-martial, the convening authority shall refer it to the staff judge advocate of the service of the accused for consideration and advice. The convening authority shall not refer a specification under a charge t…

The trial counsel shall serve or cause to be served upon the accused a copy of the charges. No person shall, against his or her objection, be brought to trial before a general court-martial case within a period of five days after the service of charges upon him or her, or before a…

Pretrial, trial, and post-trial procedures, including, but not limited to, modes of proof, for courts-martial cases arising under this article and for courts of inquiry shall be prescribed by the Governor, or the adjutant general by delegation of the Governor, by regulations issu…

(a) No authority convening a general, special, or summary court-martial nor any other commanding officer or officer serving on the staff thereof may censure, reprimand, or admonish such court or any member, the military judge, counsel, or witness thereof with respect to the findin…

(a) The trial counsel of a general or special court-martial shall be a member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia and shall prosecute in the name of this state and shall, under the direction of the court, prepare the record of the proceedings. (b)(1) The accused shall ha…

(a) At any time after the service of charges which have been referred for trial to a court-martial composed of a military judge and members, the military judge shall, subject to Code Section 38-2-1035, call the court into session without the presence of the members for the purpos…

The military judge of a court-martial or a summary court-martial officer may, for reasonable cause, grant a continuance to any party for such time and as often as may appear to be just. History. — Code 1981, § 38-2-1040, enacted by Ga. L. 2015, p. 753, § 1/HB 98.

(a)(1) The military judge and members of a general or special court-martial may be challenged by the accused or the trial counsel for cause stated to the court. The military judge, if one, or the court shall determine the relevancy and validity of challenges for cause and shall n…

(a) Before performing their respective duties, military judges, general and special courts-martial members, trial counsel, defense counsel, reporters, and interpreters shall take an oath or affirmation to perform their duties faithfully. The form of such oath or affirmation, the …

(a) A person charged with desertion or absence without leave in time of armed conflict or war, whether or not declared, or with aiding the enemy or with mutiny shall be tried and punished at any time without limitation. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this article, a person ch…

(a) No person shall, without his or her consent, be tried a second time for the same offense. (b) No proceeding in which an accused has been found guilty by a court-martial upon any charge or specification shall be a trial in the sense of this Code section until the finding of guil…

(a) If an accused after arraignment makes an irregular pleading, or after a plea of guilty sets up matter inconsistent with the plea, or if it appears that the accused has entered the plea of guilty improvidently or through lack of understanding of its meaning and effect or if th…

The trial counsel, the defense counsel, and the summary court-martial officer shall have equal opportunity to obtain witnesses and other evidence as prescribed by regulations issued pursuant to Part 1 of Article 2 of this chapter. History. — Code 1981, § 38-2-1046, enacted by Ga.…

(a) Military courts are empowered to issue all process and mandates necessary and proper to carry into full effect the powers vested in the courts. The courts shall have power to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and subpoenas for the production of documentary evide…

(a) Any person not subject to this article who: (1) Has been duly subpoenaed to appear as a witness or to produce books and records before a court-martial or court of inquiry or before any military or civil officer designated to take a deposition to be read in evidence before suc…

(a) A military judge may punish for contempt any person who uses any menacing word, sign, or gesture in his or her presence, or who disturbs the proceedings of the military court by any riot or disorder. (b) A person subject to this article may be punished for contempt by confinem…

(a) At any time after charges have been signed as provided for in Code Section 38-2-1030, the military judge or summary court-martial officer, with approval of the state judge advocate, may allow a party to take oral or written depositions for good cause. (b) The party at whose i…

(a) In any case not extending to the dismissal of a commissioned officer, the sworn testimony, contained in the duly authenticated record of proceedings of a court of inquiry, of a person whose oral testimony cannot be obtained may, if otherwise admissible under the rules of evid…