Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, United States, is the highest appeals court of the U.S. armed forces. It consists of five civilian judges appointed by the president. The court automatically reviews court-martial cases in which the defendant is condemned to death. The chief legal officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard may ask the court to review court-martial cases. Military personnel may also ask the court to review cases that result in the defendant’s imprisonment or discharge from the military. But they may do so only after a military court of criminal appeals has examined the court-martial findings. A small number of the cases of the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces are accepted for further review by the Supreme Court of the United States. See also Court-martial.
