WHAT THE LAW DOINCongress, in plain words

The law › Title 10, Armed Forces › Chapter 47

10 U.S.C. 838: Art. 38. Duties of trial counsel and defense counsel

Created in 1968 by Public Law 90-632. Changed by 7 later laws. No bill we track in this Congress changes it.

2 other sections of the Code cite this one, including 10 U.S.C. 832, 10 U.S.C. 849.

This Congress

No bill we track in the 119th Congress changes this section.

    How it got here

    2017

    • Pub. L. 115–91 substituted "section 860, 860a, or 860b of this title (article 60, 60a, or 60b)" for "section 860 of this title (article 60)". (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018) Law text · (c)

    2016

    • Pub. L. 114–328 struck out ", under the direction of the defense counsel or when he is qualified to be the defense counsel as required by section 827 of this title (article 27)," after "court-martial may". (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017) Law text · (e)

    2013

    • Pub. L. 113–66 substituted "a preliminary hearing under section 832" for "an investigation under section 832". (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014) Law text · (b)

    1999

    • Pub. L. 106–65 substituted "and the Committee on Armed Services" for "and the Committee on National Security". (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000) Law text · (b)

    1996

    • Pub. L. 104–106 substituted "Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives" for "Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives". (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996) Law text · (b)

    1983

    • Pub. L. 98–209, §3(e)(1), substituted "the person authorized under regulations prescribed under section 827 of this title (article 27) to detail counsel" for "a convening authority". · (b)
    • Pub. L. 98–209, §3(e)(2), inserted provision that such regulations may not prescribe any limitation based on the reasonable availability of counsel solely on the grounds that the counsel selected by the accused is from an armed force other than the armed force of which the accused i… · (b)
    • Pub. L. 98–209, §3(e)(3), designated existing provisions as par. (1), made minor changes in phraseology and punctuation, and added pars. (2) and (3). · (c)

    1981

    • Pub. L. 97–81 revised subsec. (b) by dividing its provisions into seven numbered paragraphs and inserted provisions relating to the right to counsel at an investigation under section 832 of this title (article 32), authorizing the promulgation of regulations relating to the "reasonable… · (b)

    1968

    • Pub. L. 90–632 substituted "military judge or by the president of a court-martial without a military judge" for "president of the court". · (b)

    Text, outline and history from the official U.S. Code (2024 edition) on GovInfo, published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Changes made after that edition appear under This Congress.