On Friday, President Joe Biden will sign an executive order transferring authority over the prosecution of major military offences, like as sexual assault, from the victims’ commanders to independent military attorneys.
The directive effectively puts into effect legislation that Congress approved in 2022 with the goal of enhancing protections for service members, who were frequently dependent on their commanders to take sexual assault accusations seriously.
Congressmen fought with defence officials over the matter for several years because they were fed up with the rise in sexual assaults in the military. They suggested that the introduction of independent solicitors would strengthen prosecutions and that commanders were occasionally inclined to disregard allegations or happenings in their units in order to defend people who were suspected of crimes.
An independent review commission on sexual assault in the military, established by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, announced the adjustment in 2021 as one of more than two dozen recommendations.
Senior Biden administration officials described the directive as the most comprehensive revision of the military legal code since its creation in 1950 during a conference call with reporters to preview it.
With the modification, the Pentagon had already made progress. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force established the new special trial counsel offices a year ago; by the end of the year, they will have control over prosecution choices.
The adjustments come as the military battles an increase in reported sexual assaults inside its ranks.
In total, there were approximately 8,942 reports of sexual assaults involving service members for the fiscal year 2022, which is a little improvement over the 8,866 incidents from the previous year.
Defence authorities have long contended that a rise in assault reports is a good thing because so many individuals are reluctant to disclose them, both in the military and in society at large.
