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Military Law Definition
Military law includes the various statutes and regulations that provide guidance to active duty members of the U.S. armed forces, members of the National Guard or Reserves, veterans, Department of Defense civilian employees, and military dependents. Given how there are significant differences between the civilian and military sectors, special laws are needed to support military disciplinary actions, the welfare of its members and dependents, the rules associated with warfare, and the bureaucracy associated with modern military preparedness.
Military law largely revolves around the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which provides the framework for the military criminal justice process. While closely mirroring criminal laws associated with civilian legal codes, the UCMJ also includes uniquely military crimes such as adultery, the willful disobedience of a superior commissioned officer, and desertion.
Criminal
actions are prosecuted in courts-martial, which operate under special rules
established in the UCMJ. Unlike the civilian sector, where members of the
general public serve as jurors at trials, the military trier of fact can
consist of a panel of service members. Under Article 15 of the UCMJ, minor
military offenses can be handled through administrative proceedings called non-judicial
punishment. The military provides service members facing disciplinary actions
an appointed military defense counsel. However, the accused may also retain a civilian
attorney at their own expense.
Civilian attorneys can also represent service members in a variety of administrative proceedings, such as medical evaluation boards, separation boards, discharge review boards, and boards for correction of military or naval records. The boards play an important role in governing the statutory rights of service members, veterans, and their dependents by ruling on issues involving important entitlements and benefits.
Military law also covers the unique civilian employment rights that are extended to service members and veterans. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), for example, protects service members against discrimination based on their military service and the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) provides certain veterans with preference rights in federal hiring. Additionally, civil protections are provided by laws such as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).
Military law also encompasses the important veterans’ retirement and disability benefits statutes that are administered by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; the military-related legal issues that service members or their dependents face in family law actions; and the disenrollment of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and military academy cadets.
Tully Rinckey PLLC
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