(a)  In the state military forces not in federal service, there are general, special, and summary courts-martial constituted like similar courts of the armed forces of the United States. They have the jurisdiction and powers, except as to punishments, and shall follow the forms and procedures provided for those courts.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 30-13-16

  • 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.
  • Military: refers to any or all of the armed forces;
    (15) "Military court" means a court-martial, a court of inquiry, or a provost court;
    (16) "Officer" means commissioned or warrant officer;
    (17) "Rank" means the order of precedence among members of the state military forces;
    (18) "Shall" is used in an imperative sense;
    (19) "State judge advocate" means the commissioned officer on the staff of the adjutant general responsible for supervising military justice in the state military forces;
    (20) "State military forces" means the national guard of the state, as defined in 32 U. See Rhode Island General Laws 30-13-1
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  The three (3) kinds of courts-martial are:

(1)  General courts-martial, consisting of a law officer and not less than five (5) members;

(2)  Special courts-martial, consisting of not less than three (3) members; and

(3)  Summary courts-martial, consisting of one commissioned officer of a rank not less than major.

History of Section.
G.L. 1956, § 30-13-16; P.L. 1962, ch. 82, § 1.