Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/170

 114 STAT. 1654A-128 PUBLIC LAW 106-398—APPENDIX (1) The American military justice system predates the United States itself, having had a continuous existence since the enactment of the first American Articles of War by the Continental Congress in 1775. (2) Pursuant to article I of the Constitution, which explicitly empowers Congress "To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces", Congress enacted the Articles of War and an Act to Govern the Navy, which were revised on several occasions between the ratification of the Constitution and the end of World War II. (3) Dissatisfaction with the administration of military justice during World War I and World War II (including dissatisfaction arising from separate systems of justice for the Army and for the Navy and Marine Corps) led both to significant statutory reforms in the Articles of War and to the convening of a committee, under Department of Defense auspices, to draft a single code of military justice applicable uniformly to all of the Armed Forces. (4) The committee, chaired by Professor Edmund M. Morgan of Harvard Law School, made recommendations that formed the basis of bills introduced in Congress to establish such a uniform code of military justice. (5) After lengthy hearings and debate on the congressional proposals, the Uniform Code of Military Justice was enacted into law on May 5, 1950, when President Harry S Truman signed the legislation. (6) President Truman then issued a revised Manual for Courts-Martial implementing the new code, and the code became effective on May 31, 1951. (7) One of the greatest innovations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (now codified as chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code) was the establishment of a civilian court of appeals within the military justice system. That court, the United States Court of Military Appeals (now the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces), held its first session on July 25, 195 L (8) Congress enacted major revisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1968 and 1983 and, in addition, has amended the code from time to time over the years as practice under the code indicated a need for updating the substance or procedure of the law of military justice. (9) The evolution of the system of military justice under the Uniform Code of Military Justice may be traced in the decisions of the Courts of Criminal Appeals of each of the Armed Forces and the decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, These courts have produced a unique body of jurisprudence upon which commanders and judge advocates rely in the performance of their duties. (10) It is altogether fitting that the 50th anniversary of the Uniform Code of Military Justice be duly commemorated, (b) COMMEMORATION.— The Congress— (1) requests the President to issue a proclamation commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Uniform Code of Military Justice; and (2) calls upon the Department of Defense, the Armed Forces, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and interested organizations and members of the bar

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