An arrest is imposed by notifying the person to be
arrested that the person is under arrest and informing the
person of the limits of the arrest. The order of arrest may
be oral or written. A person to be confined is placed
under guard and taken to the place of confinement.
Art. 12. Confinement with Enemy Prisoners
Prohibited
No member of the armed forces may be
placed in confinement in immediate
association with enemy prisoners or other
foreign nationals not members of the armed
forces.
Members of the armed forces may be confined in
the same jails, prisons, or other confinement facilities,
however, so long as they are separated from the other
categories mentioned.
Art. 13. Punishment Prohibited Before Trial
No person, while being held for trial, may
be subjected to punishment or penalty other
than arrest or confinement upon the charges
pending against him, nor shall the arrest or
confinement imposed upon him be any more
rigorous than the circumstances required to
ensure his presence, but he may be subjected to
minor punishment during that period for
infractions of discipline.
The minor punishment permitted under article 13
includes that authorized for violations of discipline set
forth by the place in which the person is confined. The
article does not prevent a person from being required to
do ordinary cleaning or policing or from taking part in
routine training and duties not involving the bearing of
arms.
Art. 14. Delivery of Offenders to Civil
Authorities
(a) Under such regulations as the
Secretary concerned may prescribe, a member
of the armed forces accused of an offense
against civil authority may be delivered, upon
request, to the civil authority for trial.
(b) When delivery under this article is made
to any civil authority of a person undergoing
sentence of a court-martial, the delivery, if
followed by conviction in a civil tribunal,
interrupts the execution of the sentence of the
court-martial, and the offender after having
answered to the civil authorities for this offense
shall, upon the request of competent military
authority, be returned to military custody for the
completion of his sentence.
Art. 15. Commanding Officer’s Nonjudicial
Punishment
Article 15 explains commanding officers’
nonjudicial punishment. For some offenses,
commanders may offer an article 15 instead of
court-martial. If accepted, the commander may impose
punishment as permitted by regulations (usually at
captain’s mast). Receiving an article 15 is not a
conviction, and it does not give a person a criminal
record. This article will be explained in greater detail
later in this chapter under “Nonjudicial Punishment.”
Art. 25. Who May Serve on Courts-Martial
Any commissioned officer, including commissioned
warrant officers, on active duty with the armed forces is
eligible to serve on a court-martial. Any warrant officer
on active duty with the armed forces is eligible to serve on
a general court-martial (GCM) and special court-martial
(SPCM) for the trial of any person, other than a
commissioned officer. Any enlisted person on active duty
with the armed forces who is not a member of the same
unit as the accused is eligible to serve on general and
special courts-martial for the trial of enlisted persons.
However, enlisted personnel may serve as a member of a
court-martial only if, before the assembling of such court,
the accused has personally requested in writing that
enlisted personnel serve as members of the court.
Art. 27. Detail of Trial Counsel and Defense
Counsel
Each general and special court-martial must have a
trial counsel and a defense counsel, with such assistants
as the convening authority deems necessary. The terms
counsel, trial counsel, and defense counsel should be
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