[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 198 (Monday, October 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57656-57659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22650]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DoD-2021-OS-0101]


Manual for Courts-Martial; Proposed Amendments

AGENCY: Joint Service Committee on Military Justice (JSC), Department 
of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed amendments and public 
meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Defense requests comments on proposed 
changes to the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), United States (2019 
ed.). The proposed changes are based on certain recommendations of the 
Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military and 
concern: An amendment to provision in the Manual for Courts-Martial 
governing the employment of expert witnesses; and amending the Manual 
for Courts-Martial to establish a universal standard of proof to be 
applied to nonjudicial punishment proceedings. The approval authority 
for these changes is the President. These proposed changes have not 
been coordinated within the Department of Defense under the DoD 
Directive governing the preparation, processing, and coordination of 
Executive Orders, and do not constitute the official position of the 
Department of Defense, the Military Departments, or any other 
Government agency.

DATES: Comments on the proposed changes must be received no later than 
December 17, 2021. A public meeting to receive comments concerning the 
proposed changes will be held on November 10, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. in 
the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces building, 450 E 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20442-0001.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: DoD cannot receive written comments at this time due to the 
COVID-19 pandemic. Comments should be sent electronically to the docket 
listed above.
    JSC Portal: http://jsc.defense.gov/Contact. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this Federal Register document. The general 
policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is 
to make these submissions available for public viewing on the internet 
at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, 
including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant Colonel Joshua B. Nettinga, 
U.S. Air Force, Executive Secretary, JSC, (240) 612-4820, 
[email protected]. The JSC website is located at http://jsc.defense.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The full text of the 2019 MCM is available 
electronically at https://jsc.defense.gov/Military-Law/Current-Publications-and-Updates/.
    This notice is provided in accordance with DoD Instruction 5500.17, 
``Role and Responsibilities of the Joint Service Committee on Military 
Justice (JSC),'' February 21, 2018.
    The JSC invites members of the public to comment on the proposed 
changes; such comments should address specific recommended changes and 
provide supporting rationale.
    This notice also sets forth the date, time, and location for a 
public meeting of the JSC to discuss the proposed changes, as shown in 
the DATES section of this notice.
    This notice is intended only to improve the internal management of 
the Federal Government. It is not intended to create any right or 
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party 
against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.

    Dated: October 13, 2021.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
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[FR Doc. 2021-22650 Filed 10-15-21; 8:45 am]
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