CLARIFICATION OF PROCEDURES FOR USE OF ALTERNATE MEMBERS ON MILITARY COMMISSIONS.

SEC. 1031. CLARIFICATION OF PROCEDURES FOR USE OF ALTERNATE MEMBERS ON MILITARY COMMISSIONS. (a) Primary and Alternate Members.— (1) Number of members.—Subsection (a) of section 948m of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking “at least five members” and inserting “at least five primary members and as many alternate members as the convening authority shall detail”; and (ii) by adding at the end the following new sentence: “Alternate members shall be designated in the order in which they will replace an excused primary member.”; and (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting “primary” after “the number of”. (2) General rules.—Such section is further amended— (A) by redesignating subsection (b) and (c) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsections (b) and (c): “(b) Primary Members. Primary members of a military commission under this chapter are voting members. “(c) Alternate Members. (1) A military commission may include alternate members to replace primary members who are excused from service on the commission. “(2) Whenever a primary member is excused from service on the commission, an alternate member, if available, shall replace the excused primary member and the trial may proceed.” . (3) Excuse of members.—Subsection (d) of such section, as redesignated by paragraph (2)(A), is amended— (A) in the matter before paragraph (1), by inserting “primary or alternate” before “member”; (B) by striking “or” at the end of paragraph (2); (C) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting “; or”; and (D) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(4) in the case of an alternate member, in order to reduce the number of alternate members required for service on the commission, as determined by the convening authority.” . (4) Absent and additional members.—Subsection (e) of such section, as redesignated by paragraph (2)(A), is amended— (A) in the first sentence— (i) by inserting “the number of primary members of” after “Whenever”; (ii) by inserting “primary” before “members required by”; and (iii) by inserting “and there are no remaining alternate members to replace the excused primary members” after “subsection (a)”; and (B) by adding at the end the following new sentence: “An alternate member who was present for the introduction of all evidence shall not be considered to be a new or additional member.”. (b) Challenges.—Section 949f of such title is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by inserting “primary or alternate” before “members”; and (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the following new sentence: “Nothing in this section prohibits the military judge from awarding to each party such additional peremptory challenges as may be required in the interests of justice.”. (c) Number of Votes Required.—Section 949m of such title is amended— (1) by inserting “primary” before “members” each place it appears; and (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the following new paragraph: “(4) The primary members present for a vote on a sentence need not be the same primary members who voted on the conviction if the requirements of section 948m(d) of this title are met.” .