Massachusetts General Laws ch. 33A sec. 20 – Jurisdiction of summary courts-martial
Article 20. Jurisdiction of summary courts-martial.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 33A sec. 20
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(a) Summary courts-martial shall have jurisdiction to try persons subject to this code, except officers, cadets, candidates and midshipmen, for any offense made punishable by this code under such limitations as the commander-in-chief may prescribe.
(b) No person with respect to whom summary courts-martial have jurisdiction shall be brought to trial before a summary court-martial if that person objects thereto. If objection to trial by summary court-martial is made by an accused, trial by special or general court-martial may be ordered, as may be appropriate. Summary courts-martial may, under such limitations as the commander-in-chief may prescribe, adjudge any punishment not forbidden by this code except dismissal, dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge, confinement for more than 1 month, restriction to specified limits for more than 2 months, or forfeiture of more than 2/3 of 1 month’s pay.