Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 47 — UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE › SUBCHAPTER XII — UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ARMED FORCES › § 946
Creates a 13-member Military Justice Review Panel to do independent, periodic reviews of how the military justice rules work. Seven members are picked one each by these officials: the Secretary of Defense (who must consult the Secretary of the department where the Coast Guard is operating when it is not operating as a service in the Navy), the Attorney General, the Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, and the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. The Secretary of Defense appoints the other members after considering recommendations from the leaders of the Armed Services Committees in both houses of Congress, the Chief Justice of the United States, and the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The Secretary of Defense also picks the chair. Members must be private U.S. citizens with criminal law expertise and experience in investigation, prosecution, defense, victim representation, or judging in courts-martial, federal, or state courts. Members normally serve one eight-year term and get no pay but are reimbursed for travel. Vacancies are filled the same way as the original appointment, and special rules allow some members to serve shorter or staggered terms for appointments made to fill terms that expire between August 1, 2030, and November 30, 2030 (three members for two years, three for four years, three for six years, and four for eight years). A member may be reappointed once in narrow situations tied to those shorter terms or short vacancy-fill terms. The Panel must do an initial review in fiscal year 2021 of amendments from the prior five years, collect and analyze specified sentencing data in fiscal year 2020, do a full review in fiscal year 2024 and every eight years after, and do interim reviews starting in fiscal year 2028 and every eight years after. For each review the Panel must report findings and recommendations to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees by December 31 of the year the review ends. The Panel may hold hearings, get information from federal agencies on request, and will be supported by Department of Defense staff and resources; chapter 10 of title 5 does not apply to it.
Full Legal Text
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 946
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110