How long does each stage of a court-martial typically take, from investigation to sentencing?
Executive summary
Typical court-martial cases move through several stages—investigation/command inquiry, possible Article 32 (preliminary) investigation, preferral/forwarding of charges, pretrial processing, trial, and convening-authority review/appeal—and timelines vary widely: the investigation stage is often the longest and can take months to years, while trials themselves commonly last days to a few weeks; sources describe the process stages but do not provide a single definitive schedule or average durations [1] [2] [3].
1. What “stages” mean in practice: a quick map
Court-martial workflow starts with an investigation by command or law enforcement, may include an Article 32 preliminary hearing for serious charges, proceeds to preferral and forwarding of charges, then pretrial motions and discovery, the trial, sentencing (if convicted), and convening-authority review and appellate remedies; this procedural map is described in plain terms by military defense counsel and legal guides [1] [4] [3].
2. Investigation/command inquiry: the slowest, most variable phase
Multiple practitioner-oriented sources emphasize that the initial investigation is usually the longest part of the process and can range from weeks to many months—or even years—depending on when the alleged offense is reported and the complexity of evidence collection; the timeline there is case-specific and not standardized in the materials reviewed [2] [1].
3. Article 32 and preliminary hearings: function and timing
For cases routed to a formal preliminary hearing (Article 32 or service-equivalent), the purpose is to determine whether there is enough evidence to merit trial; defense-lawyer guides and firm timelines show that this step adds weeks to months to the overall process, but available sources do not give a fixed calendar for scheduling such hearings [4] [1].
4. Preferral, forwarding and pretrial processing: administrative delays matter
After charges are preferred, the convening authority must decide whether to refer the case to a special or general court-martial. Pretrial motions, discovery disputes, forensic work and scheduling (including witness availability and unit operational needs) typically extend the timeline; practitioner timelines present ranges and examples rather than averages, signaling administrative and operational bottlenecks drive much variation [2] [5].
5. Trial length: usually days to weeks, rarely months
When cases reach trial, many court-martial defense resources and sample timelines depict trials that last from a few days up to a week or two for typical matters; complex cases can go longer, but sources framing “typical” timelines show the actual in-court phase is usually far shorter than the investigative and pretrial phases [5] [2].
6. Sentencing and convening-authority review: extra procedural steps
If a defendant is convicted, sentencing can proceed immediately in many trials (defense guides note a short recess then sentencing), but the convening authority’s review and any automatic appellate review can add weeks to months before sentences are finalized and executed; the convening-authority review is a formal legal check described in Defense Department materials [5] [3].
7. Public docketing, transparency reforms and speed goals
Recent Pentagon guidance and service-level changes aim to increase transparency and speed—for example, the Army has added preliminary hearing schedules to public dockets and the Pentagon asked services to post summaries of completed court-martials within seven days—indicating institutional pressure to shorten public-facing timelines, though this does not directly standardize how long each stage must take [6].
8. Why you cannot rely on a single “typical” schedule
Available sources uniformly emphasize variability: timing depends on the offense’s seriousness, when it was reported, whether an Article 32 is held, evidence complexity, operational tempo of the unit, and appeals. Legal primers and service materials present process steps and examples rather than a single timetable, so any definitive schedule beyond “investigation often longest; trial relatively brief” is unsupported in the cited reporting [1] [2] [3].
9. Practical takeaway for servicemembers and observers
Expect a long tail: prepare for investigative and pretrial phases to be your longest exposure, anticipate that a trial may last days to a few weeks, and plan for additional weeks to months for convening-authority review and appeals. For precise timing in any case, consult case-specific dockets or counsel—public dockets and summaries are increasingly available through service portals [7] [6].
Limitations and sources: This analysis synthesizes practitioner blogs, defense-firm timelines and official military justice overviews; none of the provided sources gives a universal duration for each stage, so this article reports structure and common patterns rather than definitive averages [1] [4] [2] [3] [6].