A general article, in military law (sometimes called "the Devil's Article") is a legal provision that authorizes punishment of military personnel on grounds that are less specific as to the particulars of the offense and as to the punishment, compared to most crimes in modern West European law. The offenses are likely to reflect the effect on the military and its mission than the form the offender's behavior takes, or to be stated in terms of established customs of warfare.

History

The example of military decrees of the Swedish king

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in the early 17th century was followed in West European military units, often in the form of articles of war including a general article. "The Devil's Article"
Wing Commander D. B. Nichols, ''Military Law Review'', #22, October 1963, pp. 111-137. (The preceding link is to a non-cut-and-paste-able facsimile version lacking pp. 115-117 and 136-137. The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

provides
complete cut-and-paste-able PDF
with some uncorrected OCR errors.)

United States

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

military law has evolved from British roots, including the offense of

conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations. Use in the United Kingdom The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of t ...

and, within each service, successive versions of general article that confer wide discretion upon courts martial. Since 1951, Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) has been the general article for all branches of the military. Article 134 is a "catch-all" for many offenses that are not covered by other specific articles of the UCMJ. These other offenses, including their elements and punishments, are spelled out in Part IV, Punitive Articles (Paragraphs 60-113) of the ''

Manual for Courts-Martial The ''Manual for Courts-Martial'' (''MCM'') is the official guide to the conduct of courts-martial in the United States military. An Executive Order of the President of the United States, the ''MCM'' details and expands on the military law estab ...

''. They vary from

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

(para. 92) to disloyal statements (para. 72).

Statutory text

References

United States military law {{US-law-stub