In a military court case, what must the file show before a document may be served on the accused by public notice?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In practice material of this kind, we read the papers recording what is known of the accused's residence, office and present whereabouts, and any note about where the accused currently is, since the provision turns on those places not being known.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading sets two separate routes to service by public notice: it is available where the accused's residence, office and present whereabouts cannot be known, and it is equally available where the accused is in a place the court's jurisdiction does not reach and no other method of service is possible.
Another reading notes that the second route adds a further condition the first does not carry, namely that service by another method must be impossible, so a file that shows a usable address outside the court's jurisdiction has to address that failure, while a file with no trace of the accused at all rests only on the first route.
Your judgment
When the file shows nothing about the accused's whereabouts, what record of the attempts made would persuade a court that the residence, office and present location truly cannot be known?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change what must be unknown or the route based on the court's jurisdiction not reaching the accused, or if a court decision explains what attempts at service a file must show before public notice is ordered.