Civilian Court-Martial Jurisdiction and United States v. Ali: A Re-Examination of the Historical Practice
Texas Tech Law Review, Vol. 46 (2014), pp. 1111-1137
27 Pages Posted: 6 Oct 2022
Date Written: 2014
Abstract
In 2000, civilian contractors working for Dyncorp during the United States Army’s peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina were investigated for human trafficking and prostitution. Because there was no option of prosecuting the contractors in federal district court or by courts-martial, the only possible venue for prosecution was the Bosnian government, which declined to prosecute.
With no other options, the contractors were returned to the United States without prosecution.
Fast forward to 2009; assume that the same contractors are implicated in similar allegations of human trafficking and prostitution, but this time in Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Despite changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to extend court-martial jurisdiction in such situations, the recent court decision of United States v. Ali would likely prevent court-martial jurisdiction
over this criminal conduct. Instead, the military commander must persuade the local United States Attorney in each contractor’s home district to prosecute the case in local federal district court.
Keywords: Criminal Law, Jurisdiction, Military Law, UCMJ, International Law
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation