{"id":73727,"date":"2023-07-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/07\/28\/new-military-justice-rules-set-to-go-into-effect-with-biden-order\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:17:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:17:40","slug":"new-military-justice-rules-set-to-go-into-effect-with-biden-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2023\/07\/28\/new-military-justice-rules-set-to-go-into-effect-with-biden-order\/","title":{"rendered":"New military justice rules set to go into effect with Biden order"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sweeping changes to how sexual assaults<\/a> and other serious crimes<\/a> are handled by military prosecutors will begin to go into effect on Friday, five months ahead of the deadline mandated by Congress for the reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden is scheduled to sign an executive order on Friday formalizing rules surrounding the military\u2019s Offices of Special Trial Counsel<\/a>, independent prosecutors who will now decide whether to prosecute certain offenses including as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new rules will take those decisions out of the hands of the military chain of command and create a more specialized cadre of legal experts to handle the military\u2019s most complicated criminal charges. Advocates have argued for years that the change will strengthen troops\u2019 faith in the military justice system, ensuring that serious offenses are handled by lawyers who are fully trained for those cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress mandated the changes as part of the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., <\/a>had been a key figure behind the reforms, originally designed to focus just on sexual misconduct crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\t