2024 Amendments to the Manual for Courts Martial, United States
This Executive Order (EO), signed by President Joseph R. Biden on December 20, 2024, amends the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (MCM), specifically Parts II–V, to implement new rules and transition provisions for how court-martial members are selected and how certain rules of court-martial operate. The core change is to establish regulations for randomized selection of qualified personnel to serve as court-martial members, to the greatest extent practicable, in line with the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263). The EO also sets phased effective dates for the specific rule amendments (R.C.M. 908(c)(3), R.C.M. 1205(a), R.C.M. 1209(a)(1), and R.C.M. 503(a)(1)) and provides transitional provisions to protect actions already underway and to prevent retroactive punishment for acts not punishable before these amendments. In short, the EO aims to modernize the selection process for court-martial members to improve fairness and efficiency while carefully managing the transition from the old rules.
Key Points
- 1Amends Parts II–V of the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) as described in the Annex to this order.
- 2Sec. 2: Establishes regulations for the randomized selection of qualified personnel to serve as court-martial members, to the maximum extent practicable, in line with Public Law 117-263 and 10 U.S.C. 825(e)(4).
- 3Sec. 3: General effective date for amendments, with protections to avoid retroactive punishment for acts not punishable at the time they were committed.
- 4Sec. 4: Specific amendments to R.C.M. 908(c)(3), R.C.M. 1205(a), and R.C.M. 1209(a)(1) take effect on December 22, 2024, with transitional provisions to preserve ongoing actions begun before the effective date.
- 5Sec. 5: Amendment to R.C.M. 503(a)(1) takes effect on December 23, 2024, with transitional provisions for actions begun before that date.