Court-martial

A court-martial (plural courts-martial, as "martial" is postpositive) is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment. In addition, courts-martial may be used to try prisoners of war for war crimes. The Geneva Convention requires that POWs who are on trial for war crimes be subject to the same procedures as would be the holding military's own forces.

Most navies have a standard court-martial which convenes whenever a ship is lost; this does not presume that the captain is suspected of wrongdoing, but merely that the circumstances surrounding the loss of the ship be made part of the official record. Most military forces maintain a judicial system that tries defendants for breaches of military discipline. Some countries like France and Germany have no courts-martial in time of peace and use civilian courts instead.

Composition

Usually, a court-martial takes the form of a trial with a presiding judge, a prosecutor and defensive counsel (all trained lawyers as well as officers) and (in some cases) a panel of officers (and sometimes enlisted personnel) acting as jury. The precise format varies from one country to another and may also depend on the severity of the accusation.

Court Martial (TV series)

Court Martial is an ITC Entertainment and Roncom Productions co-production crime drama TV series that premiered in 1966. Set during World War II, the series details the investigations of a Judge Advocate General's office.

The series ran for one 26-episode season, with each episode being 60 minutes. The series was shown on ABC in the United States and won the 1966 British Society of Film and Television (later known as BAFTA) TV award for Best Dramatic Series.

The series had its genesis in a two-part episode of NBC's Kraft Suspense Theatre (also starring Peter Graves and Bradford Dillman), "The Case Against Paul Ryker" [10–17 October 1963], which was later re-edited into a 1968 theatrical feature, Sergeant Ryker.

Directors of individual episodes included Sam Wanamaker and British TV stalwart Peter Graham Scott.

Cast

Guest stars included Sal Mineo.

Court Martial (disambiguation)

A court-martial is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law.

Court Martial may also refer to: