32. THE PRIVACY ACT SYSTEM NOTICE REQUIREMENT APPLIES TO COURT–MARTIAL FILES
Procedures and policies regarding courts–martial are governed
by the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Manual for Courts–Martial.
Congress recognized the unique nature of court–martial proceedings
and exempted them from requirements of the Privacy Act by specifically
excluding them from the definition of "agency." See
5 U.S.C. § 551(1)(F). Although courts–martial, themselves,
are not "agencies" for purposes of the Privacy Act,
records of trials by courts–martial are maintained by agencies
long after the courts–martial involved have been dissolved.
The Privacy Act requires each agency that maintains a system
of records to "publish in the Federal Register upon
establishment or revision a notice of the existence and character
of the system of records . . . ." 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(4).
Hence, the requirement to publish a system notice applies to
systems containing courts–martial records.
This page was last modified on
September 23, 1998
