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LegalText	10 U.S.C. § 850a	Art. 50a. Defense of lack of mental responsibility	us	united_states_code	code_section	10	ARMED FORCES	47	UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE	850a	10 U.S.C. § 850a	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc10@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t10/s850a	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-10/usc10.xml	5ff7e8cc3bc8b12afcd484051e26e2226b5f5ff0f2dea4223955fde371bc7dec	06a2679d38355c44f4219c983fdad34009233205d6ba271593a4c1b17a739ec1	b423d427d89550a728b40001f046e116b29ab704c6164beccaae4b496c4279ac	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

10 U.S.C. § 850a - Art. 50a. Defense of lack of mental responsibility

Text

(a) It is an affirmative defense in a trial by court-martial that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the accused, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of the acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense.

(b) The accused has the burden of proving the defense of lack of mental responsibility by clear and convincing evidence.

(c) Whenever lack of mental responsibility of the accused with respect to an offense is properly at issue, the military judge shall instruct the members of the court as to the defense of lack of mental responsibility under this section and charge them to find the accused—

(1) guilty;

(2) not guilty; or

(3) not guilty only by reason of lack of mental responsibility.

(d) Subsection (c) does not apply to a court-martial composed of a military judge only. In the case of a court-martial composed of a military judge only, whenever lack of mental responsibility of the accused with respect to an offense is properly at issue, the military judge shall find the accused—

(1) guilty;

(2) not guilty; or

(3) not guilty only by reason of lack of mental responsibility.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 852 of this title (article 52), the accused shall be found not guilty only by reason of lack of mental responsibility if—

(1) a majority of the members of the court-martial present at the time the vote is taken determines that the defense of lack of mental responsibility has been established; or

(2) in the case of a court-martial composed of a military judge only, the military judge determines that the defense of lack of mental responsibility has been established.

(Added Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title VIII, § 802(a)(1), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3905; Pub. L. 114–328, div. E, title LVII, § 5233, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2915.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments2016—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–328, in introductory provisions, struck out “, or the president of a court-martial without a military judge,” after “the military judge”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2016 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–328 effective on Jan. 1, 2019, as designated by the President, with implementing regulations and provisions relating to applicability to various situations, see section 5542 of Pub. L. 114–328 and Ex. Ord. No. 13825, set out as notes under section 801 of this title.

Effective DatePub. L. 99–661, div. A, title VIII, § 802(b), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3906, provided that: “Section 850a of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), shall apply only to offenses committed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 14, 1986].”