[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69912-69913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22364]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DoD-2023-OS-0083]


Joint Rules of Appellate Procedure for Courts of Criminal 
Appeals; Proposed Changes

AGENCY: Joint Rules of Appellate Procedure for Courts of Criminal 
Appeals (JRAP) Committee, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of availability; changes to the JRAP.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces proposed changes to the JRAP, which 
prescribe uniform rules of procedure for Courts of Criminal Appeals. 
Although these rules of practice and procedure fall within the 
Administrative Procedure Act's exemptions for notice and comment, the 
Department, as a matter of policy, has decided to make these changes 
available for public review and comment before they are implemented. 
The proposed changes are a refinement of the JRAP effective January 1, 
2019 and implement statutory changes expanding the jurisdiction of 
Courts of Criminal Appeals and creating special trial counsel. The 
approval authorities for these changes are the Judge Advocates General 
of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

DATES: Comments on the proposed changes must be received no later than 
November 9, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The changes to the JRAP are available for review on 
Regulations.gov in docket DoD-2023-OS-0083. You may submit comments, 
identified by docket number and title by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for further instructions on 
submitting comments.
     Mail: Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant to 
the Secretary of Defense for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and 
Transparency, Regulatory Directorate, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Attn: 
Mailbox 24, Suite 08D09, Alexandria, VA 22350-1700.
    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 https://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, 
including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Robin Jaramillo, (202) 
685-7695, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Defense Authorization Act 
(NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 included several significant amendments to 
the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. 801 et seq. 
Regarding military appellate practice the NDAA:
     Added 10 U.S.C. 824a, creating the Office of the Special 
Trial Counsel, with exclusive authority over certain victim-centric 
offenses, known as ``covered offenses.''
     Amended 10 U.S.C. 866 to expand the jurisdiction of the 
Courts of Criminal Appeals to all courts-martial resulting in a guilty 
verdict.
    The Joint Rules of Appellate Procedure for Courts of Criminal 
Appeals (JRAP) Committee convened and suggested numerous changes to the 
JRAP, both to reflect these changes to the UCMJ and to clarify several 
issues that have been raised by practitioners since the previous 
version of the JRAP became effective on January 1, 2019.
    Beyond incorporating the role of the Office of the Special Trial 
Counsel in appellate procedure, some of the more significant changes to 
the JRAP include:
    [cir] Changes to Rule 5 to reflect the Courts' expanded 
jurisdiction.
    [cir] Changes to Rule 6 to reflect what the record on appeal will 
be for the new types of appeals.
    [cir] Changes to Rule 16 to clarify procedures for waiver or 
withdrawal of appellate review.
    [cir] Changes to Rule 18:
    [ssquf] To expand on what is required for pro se filings; and
    [ssquf] To create procedures for new types of appeals under the 
Courts' expanded jurisdiction.
    [cir] Changes to Rule 23 to clarify when the Court will consider 
factual material not otherwise in the record.
    [cir] Changes to Rule 31 to clarify what is required for a Motion 
for Reconsideration.

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    Public participation is essential to effective governance and all 
comments and material received during the comment period will be 
considered. Your comment can help shape the outcome of the changes to 
the JRAP. If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for 
this document, indicate the specific section of this JRAP to which each 
comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or 
recommendation.
    Submitting comments. You may submit comments through the Federal 
Docket Management Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. To do so, go 
to https://www.regulations.gov, type DoD-2023-OS-0083 in the search box 
and click ``Search.'' Next, look for this document in the Search 
Results column, and click on it. Then click on the Comment option. If 
you cannot submit your material by using https://www.regulations.gov, 
call or email the person in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this proposed rule for alternate instructions.

Viewing Material in Docket

    To view the JRAP mentioned in this notice of availability as being 
available in the docket, find the docket as described in the previous 
paragraph, and then select ``Supporting & Related Material'' in the 
Document Type column. Public comments will also be placed in the online 
docket and can be viewed by following instructions on the https://www.regulations.gov Frequently Asked Questions web page. Also, if you

[[Page 69913]]

click on the Dockets tab and then the notice of availability, you 
should see a ``Subscribe'' option for email alerts. This option will 
notify you when comments are posted, or the final JRAP is published. 
All comments received will be reviewed, but only comments that address 
the topic of the changes to the JRAP will be posted. Off-topic, 
inappropriate, or duplicate comments may not be posted.

Personal Information

    Comments posted to https://www.regulations.gov may include any 
personal information you have provided. As a matter of practice, DoD's 
Regulatory Directorate does not post personal information to the 
Regulations.gov public website. DoD's Regulatory Directorate will pass 
submitter personal information to the government points-of-contact for 
this action so they may follow-up on comments for more clarity or 
additional information. 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 3, 2023.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2023-22364 Filed 10-6-23; 8:45 am]
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