Assuming you mean the Uniform Code of Military Justice
(UCMJ), it does NOT
provide "guilty until proven innocent" -
but the exact
opposite:
(c) Before a vote is taken of the findings, the
military
judge or the president of a court-martial without a military
judge
shall, in the presence of the accused and counsel,
instruct the members of the
court as to the elements of the
offense and charge them--
(1) that the
accused must be presumed to be innocent until
his guilt is established by legal
and competent evidence
beyond reasonable doubt;
(2) that in the case being
considered, if there is a
reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, the
doubt
must be resolved in favor of the accused and he must be
acquitted;
(3) that, if there is reasonable doubt as to the degree of
guilt, the finding must be in a lower degree as to which
there is no
reasonable doubt; and
(4) that the burden of proof to establish the guilt of
the
accused beyond a reasonable doubt is upon the United
States.
One aspect that the military has that the civilian
courts
don't is Article 32 hearings -
832. ART. 32.
INVESTIGATION
(a) No charge or specification may be referred to a general
court-martial for trial until a thorough and impartial
investigation of all
the matters set forth therein has been
made. This investigation shall include
inquiry as to the
truth of the matter set forth in the charges, consideration
of the form of charges, and recommendation as to the
disposition which should
be made of the case in the interest
of justice and discipline.
(b) The
accused shall be advised of the charges against him
and of his right to be
represented at that investigation as
provided in section 838 of this title
(article 38) and in
regulations prescribed under that section. At that
investigation full opportunity shall be given to the accused
to cross-examine
witnesses against him if they are available
and to present anything he may
desire in his own behalf,
either in defense or mitigation, and the
investigation
officer shall examine available witnesses requested by the
accused. If the charges are forwarded after the
investigation, they shall be
accompanied by a statement of
the substance of the testimony taken on both
sides and a
copy thereof shall be given to the accused.
(c) If an
investigation of the subject matter of an offense
has been conducted before the
accused is charged with the
offense, and if the accused was present at the
investigation
and afforded the opportunities for representation,
cross-
examination, and presentation prescribed in subsection (b),
no further
investigation of that charge is necessary under
this article unless it is
demanded by the accused after he
is informed of the charge. A demand for
further
investigation entitles the accused to recall witnesses for
further
cross-examination and to offer any new evidence in
his own behalf.
(d) The
requirements of this article are binding on all
persons administering this
chapter but failure to follow
them does not constitute judicial
error.
Source: The Air
University copy of
the UCMJ
--- (Note IANAL, I don't play one on TV, etc, consult a
practicing attorney, etc, etc)
[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|