[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3459 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3459

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for preliminary 
    hearings on alleged offenses under the Uniform Code of Military 
                                Justice.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 12, 2013

  Ms. Speier (for herself, Mr. Meehan, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Brownley of 
 California, and Ms. Tsongas) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for preliminary 
    hearings on alleged offenses under the Uniform Code of Military 
                                Justice.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Article 32 Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. PRELIMINARY HEARINGS ON ALLEGED OFFENSES UNDER THE UNIFORM CODE 
              OF MILITARY JUSTICE.

    (a) Preliminary Hearings.--
            (1) In general.--Section 832 of title 10, United States 
        Code (article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), is 
        amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 832. Art. 32. Preliminary hearing
    ``(a)(1) No charge or specification may be referred to a general 
court-martial for trial until a judge advocate described in paragraph 
(2) conducts a preliminary hearing.
    ``(2) A judge advocate may conduct a preliminary hearing if the 
judge advocate has a grade equal to or higher than the grade of the 
trial counsel and, if the accused is represented by military counsel, 
the defense counsel who will represent the accused at the preliminary 
hearing.
    ``(3) The preliminary hearing shall be limited to the purpose of 
determining whether there is probable cause to believe an offense has 
been committed and whether the accused committed it.
    ``(4) After conducting the preliminary hearing, the judge advocate 
conducting the preliminary hearing shall prepare a report that includes 
the following:
            ``(A) A determination as to court-martial jurisdiction over 
        the offense and the accused.
            ``(B) A determination as to probable cause.
            ``(C) A consideration of the form of charges.
            ``(D) A recommendation as to the disposition which should 
        be made of the case.
    ``(b)(1) The accused shall be advised of the charges against the 
accused and of the accused's right to be represented by counsel at the 
preliminary hearing. The accused has the right to be represented at the 
preliminary hearing as provided in section 838 of this title (article 
38) and in regulations prescribed under that section.
    ``(2) At the preliminary hearing, the accused may cross-examine 
adverse witnesses if they are available. The accused may offer evidence 
and call witnesses relevant to the probable cause determination. An 
objection to evidence on the ground that it was unlawfully acquired may 
be noted as part of the record.
    ``(3) A victim of the offense may not be required to testify at the 
preliminary hearing. A victim who declines to testify shall be deemed 
to be not available for purposes of the preliminary hearing.
    ``(4) The presentation of evidence and examination of witnesses at 
a preliminary hearing shall be limited to the question of probable 
cause.
    ``(c) Any preliminary hearing under this section shall be recorded 
by a court reporter or by a suitable recording device. A copy of the 
recording and a transcript shall be provided to any party, and the 
victim of the offense and counsel of such victim, upon request.
    ``(d) The requirements of this section are binding on all persons 
administering this chapter but failure to follow them does not 
constitute jurisdictional error.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of subchapter VI of chapter 47 of such title (the 
        Uniform Code of Military Justice) is amended by striking the 
        item relating to section 832 (article 32) and inserting the 
        following new item:

``832. Art. 32. Preliminary hearing.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 834(a)(2) of such title (article 34(b)(2) of 
        the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is amended by striking 
        ``the report of investigation'' and inserting ``the report of 
        the preliminary hearing''.
            (2) Section 838(b)(1) of such title (article 38(b)(1) of 
        the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is amended by striking 
        ``an investigation'' and inserting ``a preliminary hearing''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, and shall apply with respect to offenses under chapter 47 of 
title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), 
that occur on or after such effective date.
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