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be ordered to attend the hearing if the officer
imposing NJP desires his or her presence. If
the accused waives his or her personal
appearance and NJP is imposed, the CO must
make sure the accused is informed of the
punishment as soon as possible.
Hearing Officer
Normally, the officer who actually holds
the NJP hearing is the CO of the accused.
COs or OICs are allowed to delegate their
authority to hold the hearing to another officer
under extraordinary circumstances.
These
circumstances must be unusual and significant
rather than matters of convenience to the
commander.
This delegation of authority
should be in writing and the reasons for it
detailed. This delegation, however, does not
include the authority to impose punishment.
At such a hearing, the officer delegated to
hold the hearing will receive all evidence,
prepare a summarized record of matters
considered, and send the record to the officer
having NJP authority.
Personal Representative
The burden of getting a representative is
on the accused. As a practical matter, the
accused is free to choose anyone he or she
wants-lawyer or a nonlawyer, an officer or an
enlisted person. This freedom of the accused
to choose a representative does not compel the
command to provide lawyer counsel, and
current regulations do not create a right to
lawyer counsel at NJP where such a right
exists at court-martial.
Representation by any lawyer who is
willing and able to appear at the hearing is
available to the accused. While a lawyer’s
workload may prevent the lawyer from
appearing, a blanket rule that no lawyers will
be available to appear at Article 15 hearings
would appear to contravene the spirit if not
the letter of the law. It is likewise doubtful
that a lawyer can lawfully be ordered to
represent the accused. It is fair to say that the
accused can have anyone who is able and
willing to appear on his or her behalf without
cost to the government. While a command
does not have to provide a personal
representative, it should help the accused get
the representative he or she wants. In this
connection, if the accused desires a personal
representative, he or she should be allowed a
reasonable time to get someone.
Good
judgment should be observed here, for such a
period should be neither too short nor too
long.
Witnesses
When the hearing involves controverted
questions of fact about the alleged offenses,
witnesses should be available to testify if they
are present on the same ship or base or are
otherwise available at no expense to the
government. Thus, in a larceny case, if the
accused denies that he or she took the money,
the witnesses who can testify that the accused
did take the money should be called to testify
in person if they are available at no cost to
the government. It should be noted, however,
that no authority exists to subpoena civilian
witnesses for an NJP proceeding.
Public Hearing
The accused is entitled to have the hearing
open to the public unless the CO determines
that the proceeding should be closed for good
cause. The CO is not required to make any
special arrangements to facilitate public access
to the proceedings.
Publication of NJP Results
Authority to publish the results of NJP is
granted by the JAG MAN, section 0115. You
may publish the name, rate, offense(s), and
disposition of the offender in the plan of the
day (POD). Publish the results not later than
1 month after the imposition of NJP. If the
NJP is appealed, publish the results not later
than 1 month after the date the appeal is
denied. If the POD is distributed to military
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