Manual for Courts-Martial; Proposed Amendments

The Department of Defense requests comments on proposed changes to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2012 ed.) (MCM). The proposed changes concern the rules of procedure and evidence applicable in trials by courts-martial. The approval authority for these changes is the President. These proposed changes have not been coordinated within the Department of Defense under DoD Directive 5500.01, ``Preparing, Processing and Coordinating Legislation, Executive Orders, Proclamations, Views Letters, and Testimony,'' June 15, 2007, and do not constitute the official position of the Department of Defense, the Military Departments, or any other Government agency. The proposed changes also concern supplementary materials that accompany the rules of procedure and evidence and punitive articles. The Department of Defense, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, publishes these supplementary materials to accompany the Manual for Courts-Martial. Supplementary materials consist of Discussions (accompanying the Preamble, the Rules for Courts-Martial, the Military Rules of Evidence, and the Punitive Articles), Analyses, and various appendices. The approval authority for changes to the supplementary materials is the General Counsel, Department of Defense; changes to these items do not require Presidential approval.