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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§1037 Counsel Before Foreign Judicial Tribunals and Administrative Agencies; Court Costs and Bail

Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 53 — MISCELLANEOUS RIGHTS AND BENEFITS › § 1037

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may hire lawyers and pay legal fees, court costs, bail, and other expenses to represent service members and civilians who work with or accompany the armed forces in foreign courts or agencies when they are outside the United States and its territories (including the Northern Mariana Islands and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico). The rules should be as uniform as possible. The person helped does not have to repay the United States unless they caused bail to be forfeited, and the money can come from military or Department of Homeland Security pay appropriations.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1037

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Under regulations to be prescribed by him, the Secretary concerned may employ counsel, and pay counsel fees, court costs, bail, and other expenses incident to the representation, before the judicial tribunals and administrative agencies of any foreign nation, of persons subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and of persons not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice who are employed by or accompanying the armed forces in an area outside the United States and the territories and possessions of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. So far as practicable, these regulations shall be uniform for all armed forces.
(b)The person on whose behalf a payment is made under this section is not liable to reimburse the United States for that payment, unless he is responsible for forfeiture of bail provided under subsection (a).
(c)Appropriations available to the military department concerned or the Department of Homeland Security, as the case may be, for the pay of persons under its jurisdiction may be used to carry out this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 1037(a)50:751.50:752.July 24, 1956, ch. 689 (less § 3), 70 Stat. 630. 1037(b)50:754. 1037(c)50:755. In subsection (a), the words “Under

Regulations

to be prescribed by him” and the last sentence are substituted for 50:752. In subsection (b), the words “subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice” are omitted as surplusage. In subsection (c), the words “the terms and provisions of” are omitted as surplusage.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Uniform Code of Military Justice, referred to in subsec. (a), is classified to chapter 47 (§ 801 et seq.) of this title.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–296 substituted “Department of Homeland Security” for “Department of Transportation”. 1985—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–145 provided for payment of expenses for legal representation of civilians overseas. 1980—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–513 substituted “Department of Transportation” for “Department of the Treasury”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1985 Amendment Pub. L. 99–145, title VI, § 681(b), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 665, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to costs incurred after September 30, 1985.”

Effective Date

of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1037

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102