10 USC § 852 - Art. 52. Votes required for conviction, sentencing, and other matters

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t10/s852"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "10 USC § 852 - Art. 52. Votes required for conviction, sentencing, and other matters"
title_number: 10
title_name: "ARMED FORCES"
section_number: "852"
section_name: "Art. 52. Votes required for conviction, sentencing, and other matters"
chapter_number: 47
chapter_name: "UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE"
subchapter_number: "VII"
subchapter_name: "TRIAL PROCEDURE"
part_number: "II"
part_name: "PERSONNEL"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 55; Pub. L. 90–632, § 2(22), Oct. 24, 1968, 82 Stat. 1340; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LVII, § 5235, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2916.)"
---


# § 852. Art. 52. Votes required for conviction, sentencing, and other matters

**(a)** **In General.—** No person may be convicted of an offense in a general or special court-martial, other than—

**(1)** after a plea of guilty under section 845(b) of this title (article 45(b));

**(2)** by a military judge in a court-martial with a military judge alone, under section 816 of this title (article 16); or

**(3)** in a court-martial with members under section 816 of this title (article 16), by the concurrence of at least three-fourths of the members present when the vote is taken.

**(b)** **Level of Concurrence Required.—**

**(1)** **In general.—** Except as provided in subsection (a) and in paragraph (2), all matters to be decided by members of a general or special court-martial shall be determined by a majority vote, but a reconsideration of a finding of guilty or reconsideration of a sentence, with a view toward decreasing the sentence, may be made by any lesser vote which indicates that the reconsideration is not opposed by the number of votes required for that finding or sentence.

**(2)** **Sentencing.—** A sentence of death requires (A) a unanimous finding of guilty of an offense in this chapter expressly made punishable by death and (B) a unanimous determination by the members that the sentence for that offense shall include death. All other sentences imposed by members shall be determined by the concurrence of at least three-fourths of the members present when the vote is taken.

---

**Source Credit**: (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 55; Pub. L. 90–632, § 2(22), Oct. 24, 1968, 82 Stat. 1340; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LVII, § 5235, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2916.)

| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 852(a)852(b) | 50:627(a).50:627(b) | May 5, 1950, ch. 169, § 1 (Art. 52), 64 Stat. 125. |
| 852(c) | 50:627(c). |  |

In subsections (a) and (b), the word “may” is substituted for the word “shall”.

In subsection (b)(2), the words “for more than” are substituted for the words “in excess of”.

In subsection (c), the word “disqualifies” is substituted for the words “shall disqualify”. The word “is” is substituted for the words “shall be” in the last two sentences.

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2016— amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted of subsecs. (a) to (c) relating to number of votes required for conviction of an offense for which the death penalty is mandatory, sentences, and all other questions, respectively.

1968—Subsec. (a)(2). , inserted reference to the exception provided in  (article 45(b)).

Subsec. (c). , provided that a determination to reconsider a finding of guilty or to reconsider a sentence, with a view toward decreasing it, may be made by a vote of less than a majority vote which indicates that the reconsideration is not opposed by the number of votes required for that finding or sentence.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2016 Amendment

Amendment by  effective on , as designated by the President, with implementing regulations and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see  and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under .

### Effective Date of 1968 Amendment

Amendment by  effective first day of tenth month following October 1968, see , set out as a note under .