§948j Military Judge of a Military Commission

Summary

A military judge must be assigned to every military commission. The Secretary of Defense must make rules for how judges are assigned. The judge runs the commission they are assigned to. The judge must be a commissioned officer, belong to the bar of a Federal court or the highest court of a State, and be certified under section 826 by that service’s Judge Advocate General. A person who is the accuser, a witness, an investigator, or a counsel in the same case cannot be the judge. The judge may not talk privately with the members except in the accused’s and both counsel’s presence (except as allowed under section 949d) and may not vote with the members. A certified military judge may do other jobs approved by the Judge Advocate General or their designee. The convening authority cannot prepare or review reports about a judge’s performance as a judge on the commission.