Manuals for Courts-Martial

Two major authorities govern the U.S. military justice system, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM). Rather than published in revised editions, corrections and changes to early courts-martial manuals —independently prepared by the Army and Navy — were often printed as separate bulletins or announced in periodical literature. Officers then simply wrote in or “tipped in” the changes into their personal copies of the MCM. The 1951 MCM was the first manual to be drafted by a committee representing all three services, and was the first manual to be issued under the 1950 UCMJ. Examples of many of these manuals, which eventually will be linked below, constitute a part of the legislative history of the MCM.

For more information on the UCMJ Legislative History project, of which this document is only one part, and its sponsor, the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School Library, visit the main UCMJ page.

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