Chapter4 Access to Justice | 85 a. The Military Commissions Act of 2009 195. The military commissions and trial practice before the military commissions are governed by four principal sources: the Military Commissions Act of 2009, the Manual for Military Commissions of 2012, the Regulation for Trial by Military Commission of 2011, and the Military Commission Trial Judiciary Rules of Court of 2013. 196. The 2009 MCA gave rise to the reform of the military commissions, granting many of the basic procedural protections existing in courts-martial procedures. 228 It set jurisdiction over 32 enumerated offenses and over two articles under the UCMJ and traditional law of war violations to the extent they were codified in the statute. In addition, the 2009 MCA introduced new language to refer to the individuals subject to the military commissions substituting the term “unlawful enemy combatant” for “unprivileged enemy belligerent.” 197. The Chief Judge of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary, who is appointed by the Secretary of Defense, details a military judge to each case referred to trial. Military judges are senior military officers and lawyers trained and certified to be military judges. Each military commission consists of a military judge and a panel of at least five “members,” who are active duty commissioned officers in the U.S. military and play a role similar to that of a juror in civilian trials. In capital cases a minimum of 12 members and unanimous agreement on conviction and sentence are required. In other cases, a guilty verdict and the imposition of a sentence must have the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the members, as required in courts-martial of U.S. service members. Sentences that include confinement for ten or more years must be agreed upon by at least three-fourths of the members. 198. Convictions issued by a military commission may have up to four levels of review. First, the Convening Authority for Military Commissions reviews the findings and the sentence, which may only be reduced. Then, the conviction will be automatically reviewed by the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR). The accused can waive this appellate review, except in capital cases. It should be noted that the 2009 MCA expanded the scope of the Court’s jurisdiction to include factual sufficiency of the evidence, making the scope of review the same as the Service Courts of Criminal Appeals created in the UCMJ. Therefore, the CMCR has authority to review questions of law and questions of factual sufficiency. Either party can appeal the decision of the CMCR to the D.C. Circuit and then file a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. Before a convicted individual may be put to death following exhaustion of the review process, the President must authorize the execution. 228 For more information on the military commissions and its rules of procedures, see official website of the Office of Military Commissions at www.mc.mil Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR