620. (1) The sentence of the court shall be signed by all the Sentence signed. Record au thenticated. Action of con ity. (3) The convening authority shall scrutinize the record and shall, before approving the proceedings and sentence, satisfy him- vening authorself that the record contains all that is necessary both as to law and fact to support the finding. He may, if not so satisfied, direct the court to reconsider its sentence, or its finding and sentence, or to revise its proceedings, or he may disapprove the proceedings, finding, and the whole or any part of the sentence. (4) If the convening authority approves the whole or any part of the sentence adjudged, he shall transmit the record to the commander in chief, or in his absence to the senior officer present. Should no officer senior to himself be present, he shall, in subscribing his action upon the record, add to his title the words "Senior Officer Present." 621. (1) Whenever any person is sentenced for a period exceed(Arts. R-3904 and R-622 (1) (2).) ing ten days to confinement on diminished rations, or on bread tificate required. and water, there must appear on the record of the proceedings the certificate of the senior medical officer under the immediate jurisdiction of the convening authority, to the effect that such sentence will not be seriously injurious to the health of the prisoner. (Art. 33, A. G. N.; Art. R-33.) Medical cer Remission of sentence. Powers of convening (2) The officer who orders a summary court-martial bas power to remit, in part or altogether, but not to commute, the sentence of the court. The convening authority, in mitigation of a sen- authority. tence, can remit so much thereof as requires confinement to be solitary or on diminished rations; or in sentences involving bread and water, he can increase the frequency with which full rations be permitted. It is his duty either to remit any part or the whole of any sentence, the execution of which would, in the opinion of the senior medical officer, given in writing, produce serious injury to the health of the person sentenced; or, to submit the case again, without delay, to the same or to another Summary court-martial. (Art. R-620-(3).) (3) If a new court be ordered, it is restricted in its action to a reviewal of the record of the former trial and a redetermination of the sentence. No further testimony is to be admitted. 622. (1) No sentence of a summary court-martial shall be carried into execution until the proceedings and sentence have been in chief, or, in his absence, by the senior officer present. (Art. approved by the officer ordering the court and by the commander 32, A. G. N., Art. R-32.) Action by new court. Approval of sentence. Authority to mitigate sen (2) All powers of mitigation vested in the convening authority may be exercised by the commander in chief, or, in his absence, tence by the senior officer present. Vessel at navy viewing author (3) When the convening authority is the commanding officer of a cruising vessel in commission, temporarily at a navy yard, the yard; proper recommander in chief, or, in his absence, the senior officer of the ity. yard, is the authority whose approval of the proceedings and cruising vessels there present, and not the commandant of the sentence is necessary before the latter may be carried into execu tion. (Art. R-3910.) the records of summary courts-martial convened by himself, upon (4) The commandant shall act as senior officer present upon those convened by officers directly under his command, including those convened by commanding officers of vessels there stationed in commission in reserve but not attached to a reserve fleet, or in commission in ordinary, and upon those convened by commanding officers of vessels in commission temporarily at the yard but not attached to any regularly organized fleet or squadron. Execution of sentence. Record of serv officer present, for the purposes of this article, shall be deter- (6) Sentences as finally approved by the convening authority (7) In every case where a sentence involving bad conduct disice and offenses. charge has been imposed, it shall be the duty of the officer ordering the court, before acting upon the proceedings, to spread upon the record a brief synopsis of the service of the person tried and of the offenses committed by him during his current enlistment. (8) In cases where the accused has been acquitted by the court, or where the sentence has been disapproved by the convening authority, the record of proceedings shall be submitted to the senior officer present in the same manner as though a sentence requiring action still remained. Procedure in case of acquittal, Bad conduct discharge. 623. Such portion of a sentence of summary court-martial as involves discharge from the service with bad conduct discharge shall not be carried into effect until an order for discharge is received from the Bureau of Navigation or from the Commandant of the Marine Corps, as the case may require, except that men during their first enlistment, so sentenced, may, after approval of the proceedings and sentence by the proper authorities (Art. 32, A. G. N.; R-32) be discharged, without the above mentioned order, within the continental limits of the United States, and that men in the insular force sentenced by summary court-martial to discharge with bad conduct discharge may be so discharged in the Philippine Islands, Samoa, or Guam, according to the place of enlistment, upon the approval of the sentence by the senior officer present in Asiatic waters, or in Samoa or Guam, as the case may be. Men under sentence of discharge with bad conduct discharge, and on board a vessel about to proceed to a port outside the United States, may, upon order of the senior officer present, be transferred to the nearest receiving ship or marine barracks, according to the circumstances, or to a vessel remaining in port; provided that no expense for travel be incurred by such transfer, and that the Bureau of Navigation or the Commandant of the Marine Corps, as the case may require, be informed thereof. Record of proreedings, how made up. Transcript from record. Court dissolved. 624. (1) Records of proceedings of summary courts-martial shall be kept and made up in the manner hereinafter prescribed for records of general courts-martial and in accordance with the instructions contained in the authorized forms of procedure. They shall be transmitted direct to the Judge Advocate General. (Art. R-826 et seq.) (2) Before such record is transmitted to the Judge Advocate General, a brief transcript shall be taken therefrom (except in case of acquittal) and furnished to the officer of the deck and to the executive officer for entry, respectively, in the ship's log and upon the service record of the man concerned. This tran script shall comprise the date and nature of the offense proved and the punishment adjudged as approved by the convening and reviewing authority, with the date of such approval. If the said punishment be disapproved or mitigated subsequently by the department, an entry to that effect shall be made as soon as notice thereof is received. If bad-conduct discharge, or both, be included in the sentence, the final action in either case shall be similarly entered. The transcript and entries shall be authenticated as soon as made by the signature of the commanding officer. 625. The court is dissolved by the authority that ordered it to convene. The order may be verbal. age of pay. 626. Records of summary courts-martial shall show, over the Pay officer to signature of the officer of the Pay Corps having the pay accounts certify to check of the accused, that the loss of pay, if there be any adjudged and approved, has been checked. In order to enable such officer to make the necessary certificate, the commanding officer shall forward with the record the requisite order for the checkage; such order shall be in duplicate, one copy of which shall be sent immediately by the commanding officer direct to the Auditor for the Navy Department. The order shall contain the following information: Name, rate, date of trial, offense (condensed as much as possible), and sentence as finally approved. If the offense is absence over leave or absence without leave, the dates of the beginning and ending of the unauthorized absence shall be stated. In the case of marines, certificate will be made by the commanding officer of marines that the checkage has been entered in the service record book or on the pay roll, as the case may be. 627. Summary courts-martial are empowered to compel the attendance of civilian witnesses and to make use of depositions in the same manner as general courts-martial. (Art. R-4542.) Civilian witnesses and depositions. CHAPTER 8. GENERAL COURTS-MARTIAL. SECTION 1.-CONSTITUTION OF COURT. vened. court. case of 701. General courts-martial may be convened by the President, by By whom conthe Secretary of the Navy, by the commander in chief of a fleet or squadron, and by the commanding officer of any naval station beyond the continental limits of the United States. (Art. 38, A. G. N., R-38; act of Feb. 16, 1909; and "Forms of Procedure, 1910," pp. 51 and 54.) 702. (1) The composition of a general court-martial is prescribed in Composition of article 39 of the Articles for the Government of the Navy. (R-39.) (2) In detailing officers for a general court-martial for the trial of a medical, pay, or marine officer it is deemed proper, if the exigencies staff officers or of the service permit, that at least one-third of the court be composed of officers of the same corps as the person to be tried. No officer should Possibility of be named in the precept as a member against whom either the judge challenge to be advocate or the accused can reasonably object when called upon to exercise the privilege of challenge. guarded against. marines. be added to or 703. (1) When less than thirteen officers are detailed upon a general, Statement to court-martial, a statement that "no other officers than those named can der convening be summoned without injury to the service" shall be an essential part the court. of the order convening the court, as showing that the requirements of the statutes relating both to the number and rank of members have been complied with as far as the interests of the service allow. (Art. 39, A. G. N., R-39.) (2) The limitations as to the number, rank, or corps of the members is discretionary with the appointing power, and his decision thereupon (3) Except in cases of emergency, the circumstances of which shall be reported in writing to the department by the convening authority, no officer shall be ordered as president or member of a general courtmartial who is below the rank of lieutenant in the Navy or captain in the Marine Corps. Limitations discretionary. Members exempt from other 704. (1) An officer detailed for duty on a general court-martial or court of inquiry is, while so serving, exempt from other duty, except duty. in cases of emergency, to be judged of by his immediate commanding officer, who shall, in case he require such officer to perform other duty, at once communicate with the convening authority, assigning the to be reported. (2) When a general court-martial or court of inquiry adjourns without Adjournment day, or for a period of more than two days, the president of the court shall report the fact to the senior officer present, and the members of the court shall then be liable to other duty. original precept shall be forwarded to the convening authority and 705. When the court is dissolved by the convening authority, the shall, in all cases, be filed in the Navy Department. SECTION 2.-CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS. 711. (1) It is entirely within the discretion of the officer empowered Framing the against an accused shall be charged against him. powers of convening au thority. |