When a suspect is questioned in a military case, who must be present alongside the questioner, and does it depend on who is doing the questioning?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file, we check the questioning record or transcript for the names and titles of those present, which shows whether the right kind of official attended, and we read the paperwork identifying the questioner as a military prosecutor or a military police officer, since the provision ties the required participant to that role.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading follows the provision's split on who questions: where a military prosecutor questions the suspect, a prosecution investigator or a clerk of the military prosecution office must be made to participate, and where a military police officer questions the suspect, a military police official must be made to participate, the word 'must' making participation obligatory rather than optional.
Another reading points out that the provision fixes only who must attend and says nothing about what happens if no one of the required kind attended, nor about who counts as a prosecution investigator, a clerk, or a military police official, so the file has to carry something showing those titles.
Your judgment
If the questioning record names an attendee only by role and not by title, how could the file show that this person was the kind of official the provision requires?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change which officials must participate, or if a decision on this provision sets what a questioning record must show about those present.