Thursday, October 21, 2021

Congressional Research Service report on pending reform proposals

The Congressional Research Service recently issued this report on proposals to alter the disposition of offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Might it assist Congress if the report's table of military justice practitioners were expanded to take account of reservists?

Table 2. Active Duty Military Justice Practitioners

Judge Advocates, by Armed Force


Duty Position

Army

Navy

Marine Corps

Air Force

Coast Guard

Total

Defense Counsel

132

53

69

104

8

366

Trial Counsel

128a

45b

72

19

342

Military Justice Chief

58

8

41

76

1

184

Military Judge

25

12

12

20

3

72

Appellate Judge

6

5

3

10

3

27

Total

349

123

197

288

34

991

Source: CRS analysis of information provided by JAG legislative liaison officials, December 11, 2020.

Notes: A “trial counsel” is a prosecutor, and a “military justice chief” is a supervisory prosecutor. A “military judge” is a judge advocate who is detailed and designated under 10 U.S.C. §§826, 830. Air Force officials informed CRS that 67% of all the service’s judge advocates notionally are available to serve as trial counsels, but this general data could not be aligned with the specific data provided by other services.

  1. Army officials informed CRS that the trial counsel number of 128 is for full-time prosecutors, but there are an additional 130 trial counsels who can prosecute cases as needed.
  2. Navy officials informed CRS that the trial counsel number of 45 is for full-time prosecutors, but there are an additional 51 trial counsels who can prosecute cases as needed.

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