Court Martial

A court-martial (plural courts-martial, as "martial" is postpositive) is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment. Some Union members maintain their own military forces (such as the Klack, the Sarans and the Pan Sarans have no court-martial but use Royal or regular courts instead. [1] ) In addition, courts-martial may be used to try prisoners of war for war crimes. Part of the last Cease Fire Agreement and the Free Space treaty is the requirement that all POWs [2] who are on trial for war crimes be subject to the same procedures as would be the holding army's own soldiers. The Union Space Navy has a standard court-martial which convenes whenever a ship is lost; this does not presume that the captain should be suspected of wrongdoing, but merely that the circumstances surrounding the loss of the ship should be made part of the official record.

Composition
Usually, a court-martial takes the form of a trial with a presiding judge, a prosecutor and defensive counsel (all trained lawyers as well as officers) and (in some cases) a panel of officers (and sometimes enlisted personnel) acting as jury. The precise format varies and depends on the severity of the accusation.

Jurisdiction
Courts martial have the authority to try a wide range of military offences, many of which closely resemble civilian crimes like fraud, theft or perjury. Others, like cowardice, desertion, and insubordination, are purely military crimes. Military offences are defined and covered under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for members of the Union Army and Ranger Service. The United Stars Marine Corps and the United Stars Navy while technically also subject to the UCMJ, used the old much stricter Union Military Regulations and Orders.( UMRO)

Drumhead Court-Martial
Star Ship Captains operating outside Union territory and either distance or mission prevents them to return can and even must call to a Court Martial aboard their ships if the situation requires it.

[1] Local Military, Para Military or Private Military is permitted under Union laws and fall under the “Militia Sub Clause” of the 7th Law of the Union Constitution. Such Units are considered Civilian and are not permitted to own or use weapons considered to be : “Mil Tech Grade”

[2] POW = Prisoner of War