Summary Court-Martial Lawyer

A Summary Court-Martial (SCM) is the least formal of the three types of courts-martial.  The SCM is a legal mechanism that is streamlined to allow a command to swiftly deal with minor offenses committed by enlisted members within the command.  As a result, a summary court-martial does not afford an enlisted servicemember with the same legal protections as a general and special court-martial.   Therefore, an enlisted servicemember always has the right to refuse a SCM.  If the accused refuses to be tried at a Summary Court-Martial, then the command may refer the charges to a Special Court-Martial, which has the authority to award a harsher punishment.

A SCM has one officer who performs the function as a prosecutor, defense counsel, judge and jury.  The summary court-martial officer assigned by the command to the case is not required to have any legal training or background.   The only qualifications to be a summary court-martial officer is on active duty, holds the rank of O-3 or higher and should be best qualified by reason of age, education, experience and judicial temperament as his performance as a summary court-martial officer will have a direct impact upon the morale and discipline of the command.   Theoretically, these qualifications will ensure the summary court-martial officer will conduct a thorough and impartial hearing to ensure the command and the defendant both receive a fair hearing.  One problem that sometimes arises with a Summary Court-Martial is that the Summary Court-Martial officer presiding over the case may have little or no prior legal experience whatsoever. Therefore, the presiding officer may not understand the Military Rules of Evidence and Procedure and may misapply the law. Therefore, a just result may be a “roll of the dice.”

Although the technical rules of evidence apply at a SCM and a guilty finding can result in confinement and a loss of pay, the accused does not have a constitutional right to representation by a detailed military counsel at a SCM.  However, the accused has a limited right to civilian military defense counsel if the appearance of that counsel does not unnecessarily delay the proceedings and the accused bears the cost for the civilian military attorney. Since the accused has the right to present evidence in their defense and cross-examine witnesses, it is important that the accused has a qualified civilian military attorney in their corner to fight the charges.

Prior to January 1, 2019, if an accused was not represented by counsel and found guilty of an offense at a SCM, the guilty finding was not considered a conviction.  On the other hand, if an accused was represented by counsel and found guilty, then the guilty finding was considered a conviction.  However, effective January 1, 2019, amendments in the Military Justice Act of 2016 explicitly state that a SCM is a non-criminal forum and that a finding of a guilty does not constitute a criminal conviction.  Therefore, now even if an accused is represented by counsel, a guilty finding is no longer considered a conviction.  

The maximum punishment that can be awarded at a SCM is as follows:

Facing a Summary Court-Martial?

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