View all text of Subchapter IX [§ 859 - § 876b]
§ 869. Art. 69. Review by Judge Advocate General
(a)In General.—Upon application by the accused or receipt of the record pursuant to section 864(c)(3) of this title (article 64(c)(3)) and subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d), the Judge Advocate General may—
(1) with respect to a summary court-martial, modify or set aside, in whole or in part, the findings and sentence; or
(2) with respect to a general or special court-martial, order such court-martial to be reviewed under section 866 of this title (article 66).
(b)Timing.—
(1) To qualify for consideration, an application under subsection (a) must be submitted to the Judge Advocate General not later than—
(A) for a summary court-martial, one year after the date of completion of review under section 864 of this title (article 64); or
(B) for a general or special court-martial, one year after the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date the accused is provided notice of appellate rights under section 865(c) of this title (article 65(c)), unless the accused submitted a waiver or withdrawal of appellate review under section 861 of this title (article 61) before being provided notice of appellate rights, in which case the application must be submitted to the Judge Advocate General not later than one year after the entry of judgment under section 860c of this title (article 60c).
(2) The Judge Advocate General may, for good cause shown, extend the period for submission of an application, except that—
(A) in the case of an application for review of a summary court martial, the Judge Advocate may not consider an application submitted more than three years after the completion date referred to in paragraph (1)(A); and
(B) in case of an application for review of a general or special court-martial, the Judge Advocate may not consider an application submitted more than three years after the end of the applicable period under paragraph (1)(B).
(c)Scope.—
(1)
(A) In a case reviewed under section 864 of this title (article 64), the Judge Advocate General may set aside the findings or sentence, in whole or in part, on the grounds of newly discovered evidence, fraud on the court, lack of jurisdiction over the accused or the offense, error prejudicial to the substantial rights of the accused, or the appropriateness of the sentence.
(B) In setting aside findings or sentence, the Judge Advocate General may order a rehearing, except that a rehearing may not be ordered in violation of section 844 of this title (article 44).
(C) If the Judge Advocate General sets aside findings and sentence and does not order a rehearing, the Judge Advocate General shall dismiss the charges.
(D)
(i) Subject to clause (ii), if the Judge Advocate General sets aside findings and orders a rehearing and the convening authority determines that a rehearing would be impracticable, the convening authority shall dismiss the charges.
(ii) If a case was referred to trial by a special trial counsel, a special trial counsel shall determine if a rehearing is impracticable and shall dismiss the charges if the special trial counsel so determines.
(2) In a case reviewed under section 865(b) of this title (article 65(b)), review under this section is limited to the issue of whether the waiver or withdrawal of an appeal was invalid under the law. If the Judge Advocate General determines that the waiver or withdrawal of an appeal was invalid, the Judge Advocate General shall send the case to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
(d)Court of Criminal Appeals.—
(1) A Court of Criminal Appeals may review the action taken by the Judge Advocate General under subsection (c)(1) in a case submitted to the Court of Criminal Appeals by the accused in an application for review.
(2) The Court of Criminal Appeals may grant an application under paragraph (1) only if—
(A) the application demonstrates a substantial basis for concluding that the action on review under subsection (c) constituted prejudicial error; and
(B) the application is filed not later than the earlier of—
(i) 60 days after the date on which the accused is notified of the decision of the Judge Advocate General; or
(ii) 60 days after the date on which a copy of the decision of the Judge Advocate General is deposited in the United States mails for delivery by first-class certified mail to the accused at an address provided by the accused or, if no such address has been provided by the accused, at the latest address listed for the accused in his official service record.
(3) The submission of an application for review under this subsection does not constitute a proceeding before the Court of Criminal Appeals for purposes of section 870(c)(1) of this title (article 70(c)(1)).
(e)Action Only on Matters of Law.—Notwithstanding section 866 of this title (article 66), in any case reviewed by a Court of Criminal Appeals under subsection (d), the Court may take action only with respect to matters of law.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 61; Pub. L. 90–632, § 2(30), Oct. 24, 1968, 82 Stat. 1342; Pub. L. 97–81, § 6, Nov. 20, 1981, 95 Stat. 1089; Pub. L. 98–209, § 7(e)(1), Dec. 6, 1983, 97 Stat. 1402; Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XIII, §§ 1302(a), 1304(b)(1), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1576, 1577; Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title IX, § 924(c)(2), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2831; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LIX, § 5333, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2935; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1081(c)(1)(L), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1598; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title V, § 539A(d), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1699; Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title V, § 544(c), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2582.)