New York Laws
Part 5 - Appointment and Composition of Courts-Martial
130.25 - Who May Serve on Courts-Martial.

(b) Any warrant officer of or on duty with the organized militia shall
be eligible to serve on general and special courts-martial for the trial
of any person, other than an officer, who may lawfully be brought before
such courts for trial.
(c) (1) Any enlisted person of the organized militia who is not a
member of the same unit as the accused shall be eligible to serve on
general and special courts-martial for the trial of any enlisted person
who may lawfully be brought before such courts for trial, but he shall
serve as a member of a court only if, before the conclusion of a session
called by the military judge under subdivision (a) of section 130.39 of
this chapter prior to trial or, in the absence of such a session, before
the court is assembled for the trial of the accused, the accused
personally has requested in writing that enlisted persons serve on it.
After such a request, no enlisted person shall be tried by a general or
special court-martial the membership of which does not include enlisted
persons in a number comprising at least one-third of the total
membership of the court, unless eligible enlisted persons cannot be
obtained on account of physical conditions or military exigencies. Where
such persons cannot be obtained, the court may be convened and the trial
held without them, but the convening authority shall make a detailed
written statement, to be appended to the record, stating why they could
not be obtained.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the word "unit" shall mean a
duly organized body of the organized militia not larger than a company,
a squadron, a division of the naval militia, or a body corresponding to
one of them.
(d) (1) When it can be avoided, no person subject to this code shall
be tried by a court-martial any member of which is junior to him in rank
or grade.
(2) When convening a court-martial, the convening authority shall
appoint as members thereof such persons as, in his opinion, are best
qualified for the duty by reason of age, education, training,
experience, length of service, and judicial temperament. No person shall
be eligible to sit as a member of a general or special court-martial
when he is the accuser or a witness for the prosecution or has acted as
investigating officer or as counsel in the same case. If within the
command of the convening authority there is present and not otherwise
disqualified an officer who is a member of the bar of this state and of
appropriate rank, the convening authority shall appoint such officer as
president of a special court-martial; provided, however that although
this requirement shall be binding on the convening authority, failure to
follow it in any case shall not divest a military court of jurisdiction.