ART. 125. In case of the death of any officer, the major of his regiment, or the officer doing the major's duty, or the second officer in command at any post or garrison, as the case may be, shall immediately secure all his effects then in camp or quarters, and shall make, and transmit to the office of the Department of War, an inventory thereof. ART. 126. In case of the death of any soldier, the commanding officer of his troop, battery, or company shall immediately secure all his effects then in camp or quarters, and shall, in the presence of two other officers, make an inventory thereof, which he shall transmit to the office of the Department of War. ART. 127. Officers charged with the care of the effects of deceased officers or soldiers shall account for and deliver the same, or the proceeds thereof, to the legal representatives of such deceased officers or soldiers. And no officer so charged shall be permitted to quit the regiment or post until he has deposited in the hands of the commanding officer all the effects of such deceased officers or soldiers not so accounted for and delivered. ART. 128. The foregoing articles shall be read and published, once in every six months, to every garrison, regiment, troop, or company in the service of the United States, and shall be duly observed and obeyed by all officers and soldiers in said service. Section 1202, Revised Statutes. Every judge advocate of a court-martial shall have power to issue the like process to compel witnesses to appear and testify which courts of criminal jurisdiction within the State, Territory, or District where such military courts shall be ordered to sit, may lawfully issue. SEC. 1343, Revised Statutes. All persons who, in time of war, or of rebellion against the supreme authority of the United States, shall be found lurking or acting as spies, in or about any of the fortifications, posts, quarters, or encampments of any of the armies of the United States, or elsewhere, shall be triable by a general court-martial, or by a military commission, and shall, on conviction thereof, suffer death. [Act of September 27. 1890, 26 Stat., 491.] That whenever by any of the Articles of War for the government of the Army the punishment on conviction of any military offense is left to the discretion of the court-martial, the punishment therefor shall not, in time of peace, be in excess of a limit which the President may prescribe. [Act of July 27, 1892, 27 Stat., 278.] SEC. 2. That whenever a court-martial shall sit in closed session, the judge advocate shall withdraw, and when his legal advice or his assistance in referring to recorded evidence is required, it shall be obtained in open court. SEC. 3. That fraudulent enlistment, and the receipt of any pay or allowance thereunder, is hereby declared a military offense and made punishable by courtmartial, under the sixty-second article of war. SEC. 4. That judge advocates of departments and of courts-martial, and the trial officers of summary courts, are hereby authorized to administer oaths for the purposes of the administration of military justice, and for other purposes of military administration. [Act of June 18, 1898, 30 Stat., 484.] SEC. 3. That the commanding officers authorized to approve the sentences of summary courts and superior authority shall have power to remit or mitigate the same. SEC. 4. That post and other commanders shall, in time of peace, on the last day of each month, make a report to the department headquarters of the number of cases determined by summary court during the month, setting forth the offenses committed and the penalties awarded, which report shall be filed in the office of the judge advocate of the department, and may be destroyed when no longer of use. SEC. 5. That soldiers sentenced by court-martial to dishonorable discharge and confinement shall, until discharged from such confinement, remain subject to the Articles of War and other laws relating to the administration of military justice. SEC. 6. That it shall be lawful for any civil officer having authority under the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory, or District, to arrest offenders, to summarily arrest a deserter from the military service of the United States and deliver him into the custody of the military authority of the General Government. [Act of March 2, 1901, 31 Stat., 950.] SEC. 1. Every person not belonging to the Army of the United States who, being duly subpoenaed to appear as a witness before a general court-martial of the Army willfully neglects or refuses to appear, or refuses to qualify as a witness or to testify or produce documentary evidence which such person may have been legally subpoenaed to produce, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, for which such person shall be punished on information in the district court of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the United States district attorney, on the certification of the facts to him by the general court-martial, to file an information against and prosecute the person so offending, and the punishment of such person, on conviction, shall be a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both, at the discretion of the court: Provided, That this shall not apply to persons residing beyond the State, Territory, or District in which such general court-martial is held, and that the fees of such witness, and his mileage at the rates provided for witnesses in the United States district court for said State, Territory, or District shall be duly paid or tendered said witness, such amounts to be paid by the Pay Department of the Army out of the appropriation for compensation of witnesses: Provided, That no witness shall be compelled to incriminate himself or to answer any questions which may tend to incriminate or degrade him. That Army paymasters' clerks shall be subject to the Rules and Articles of War. [Act of March 2, 1913, 37 Stat., 721.] On and after July first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, courts-martial shall be of three kinds, namely: First, general courts-martial; second, special courtsmartial; and third, summary courts-martial. General courts-martial may consist of any number of officers from five to thirteen, inclusive. Special courts-martial may consist of any number of officers from three to five, inclusive. A summary court-martial shall consist of one officer. The President of the United States, the commanding officer of a territorial division or department, the Superintendent of the Military Academy, the commanding officer of an army, a field army, an army corps, a division, or a separate brigade, and when empowered by the President, the commanding officer of any district or of any force or body of troops, may appoint general courts martial whenever necessary; but when any such commander is the accuser or the prosecutor of the person or persons to be tried the court shall be appointed by superior competent authority, and no officer shall be eligible to sit as a member of such court when he is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution. The commanding officer of a district, garrison, fort, camp, or other place where troops are on duty, and the commanding officer of a brigade, regiment, detached battalion, or other detached command, may appoint special courtsmartial for his command; but such special courts-martial may in any case be appointed by superior authority when by the latter deemed desirable, and no officer shall be eligible to sit as a member of such court when he is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution. The commanding officer of a garrison, fort, camp, or other place where troops are on duty, and the commanding officer of a regiment, detached battalion, detached company, or other detachment may appoint summary courts-martial for his command; but such summary courts-martial may in any case be appointed by superior authority when by the latter deemed desirable: Provided, That when but one officer is present with a command he shall be the summary courtmartial of that command and shall hear and determine cases brought before him. General courts-martial shall have power to try any person subject to military law for any crime or offense made punishable by the Articles of War and any other person who by statute or by the law of war is subject to trial by military tribunals: Provided, That no officer shall be brought to trial before a general court-martial appointed by the Superintendent of the Military Academy. Special courts-martial shall have power to try any person subject to military law, except an officer, for any crime or offense not capital made punishable by the Articles of War: Provided, That the President may by regulations, which he may modify from time to time, except from the jurisdiction of special courtsmartial any class or classes of persons subject to military law. Special courts-martial shall have power to adjudge punishment not to exceed confinement at hard labor for six months or forfeiture of six months' pay, or both, and in addition thereto reduction to the ranks in the cases of noncommissioned officers, and reduction in classification in the cases of first-class privates. Summary courts-martial shall have power to try any soldier, except one who is holding the privileges of a certificate of eligibility to promotion, for any crime or offense not capital made punishable by the Articles of War: Provided, That noncommissioned officers shall not, if they object thereto, be brought to trial before a summary court-martial without the authority of the officer competent to bring them to trial before a general court-martial. Summary courts-martial shall have power to adjudge punishment not to exceed confinement at hard labor for three months or forfeiture of three months' pay, or both, and in addition thereto reduction to the ranks in the cases of noncommissioned officers and reduction in classification in the cases of first-class privates: Provided, That when the summary court officer is also the commanding officer no sentence of such summary court-martial adjudging confinement at hard labor or forfeiture of pay, or both, for a period in excess of one month shall be carried into execution until the same shall have been approved by superior authority. Articles seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy-five, eighty-one, eighty-two, and eighty-three of section thirteen hundred and forty-two of the Revised Statutes; the first section of an act entitled "An act to promote the administration of justice in the Army," approved October first, eighteen hundred and ninety, as amended by the first section of an act approved June eighteenth, eighteen hun dred and ninety-eight (Thirtieth Statutes, four hundred and eighty-three, four hundred and eighty-four), are hereby repealed, but courts-martial duly and regularly convened in orders issued prior to the date when this act takes effect and in existence on that date, under Articles of War hereby repealed, may continue as legal courts for the trial of cases referred to them prior to that date with the same effect as if this act has not been passed: Provided, That prior to July first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, the President may, when deemed by him necessary, empower any officer competent under the terms of this act to appoint the general courts-martial which it authorizes, to appoint general courts-martial authorized by existing law. |