Executive Order 13825: Manual for Courts-Martial

What the Executive Order says

Executive Order (EO) 13825 is entitled "2018 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States" and has 12sections.  It was originally issued in March 2018.

Section 1

This section indicates that the changed versions of Parts II, III and IV of the Manual for Courts-Martial are included as Annex 1 to the EO.

Section 2

This section indicates that for when the change was effective, that you can't be charged with a crime nor have the charges dropped due to a change regarding the deed in the changes made today.

Section 3

This section discusses the Military Justice Act of 2016, which is PL 114-328.  Section 5542 directs the President to prescribe implementing regulations for all of the changes listed in Division E of the Law.

Section 4

So while Annex 1 shows a bunch of changes made, there are further changes in Annex 2.

Section 5

This section indicates that the changes in Annex 2, unlike the changes in Annex 1, take effect in the future.  The language here again indicates that people can't be made guilty or innocent for deeds committed on the opposite side of the effective date.

Sections 6 through 12

These sections makes further clarifications regarding the applicability and interpretation of certain sections of PL 114-328.  It is not clear to me why they had put things into different sections of the EO, especially since the date of effect is January 1, 2019 for almost all of the items listed in these sections.

My Commentary

The preamble, which sets out the authorities on which this EO is issued, indicates that by 10 USC 801, Congress has deemed that the President has the authority to direct and define the justice processes and military law applicable within the military.  Insofar as adjudication of incidents involving both military and civilian participants, it is not clear whether military or civilian law has precedence.  So prior to this, I had been under the false belief that Congress also defines military law, but apparently it does not.  A scan of new articles on the topic, especially since a lot of the changes are going into effect this past month, leaves me with the impression that it is regarding crimes of a sexual nature that are affected the greatest.