10 U.S.C. § 1508 — Judicial review

Page 1430 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1507 of a missing person shall be fined as provided in title 18 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.’’ § 1507. Recommendation of status of death (a) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECOMMENDA- TION.—A board appointed under section 1503, 1504, or 1505 of this title may not recommend that a person be declared dead unless— (1) credible evidence exists to suggest that the person is dead; (2) the United States possesses no credible evidence that suggests that the person is alive; and (3) representatives of the United States— (A) have made a complete search of the area where the person was last seen (unless, after making a good faith effort to obtain access to such area, such representatives are not granted such access); and (B) have examined the records of the gov- ernment or entity having control over the area where the person was last seen (unless, after making a good faith effort to obtain access to such records, such representatives are not granted such access). (b) SUBMITTAL OF INFORMATION ON DEATH.—If a board appointed under section 1503, 1504, or 1505 of this title makes a recommendation that a missing person be declared dead, the board shall include in the report of the board with respect to the person under that section the following: (1) A detailed description of the location where the death occurred. (2) A statement of the date on which the death occurred. (3) A description of the location of the body, if recovered. (4) If the body has been recovered and is not identifiable through visual means, a certifi- cation by a forensic pathologist that the body recovered is that of the missing person. In de- termining whether to make such a certifi- cation, the forensic pathologist shall consider, as determined necessary by the Secretary of the military department concerned, additional evidence and information provided by appro- priate specialists in forensic medicine or other appropriate medical sciences. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 569(b)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 347; amended Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title V, § 578(e), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2537; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title V, § 599(c), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1768.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1997—Subsec. (b)(3), (4). Pub. L. 105–85 added pars. (3) and (4). 1996—Subsec. (b)(3), (4). Pub. L. 104–201 struck out pars. (3) and (4) which read as follows: ‘‘(3) A description of the location of the body, if re- covered. ‘‘(4) If the body has been recovered and is not identifi- able through visual means, a certification by a practi- tioner of an appropriate forensic science that the body recovered is that of the missing person.’’ § 1508. Judicial review (a) RIGHT OF REVIEW.—A person who is the pri- mary next of kin (or the previously designated person) of a person who is the subject of a find- ing described in subsection (b) may obtain judi- cial review in a United States district court of that finding, but only on the basis of a claim that there is information that could affect the status of the missing person’s case that was not adequately considered during the administrative review process under this chapter. Any such re- view shall be as provided in section 706 of title 5. (b) FINDINGS FOR WHICH JUDICIAL REVIEW MAY BE SOUGHT.—Subsection (a) applies to the fol- lowing findings: (1) A finding by a board appointed under sec- tion 1504 or 1505 of this title that a missing person is dead. (2) A finding by a board appointed under sec- tion 1509 of this title that confirms that a missing person formerly declared dead is in fact dead. (c) SUBSEQUENT REVIEW.—Appeals from a deci- sion of the district court shall be taken to the appropriate United States court of appeals and to the Supreme Court as provided by law. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 569(b)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 348.) § 1509. Program to resolve missing person cases (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED; COVERED CONFLICTS.— The Secretary of Defense shall implement a comprehensive, coordinated, integrated, and fully resourced program to account for persons described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 1513(1) of this title who are unaccounted for from the following conflicts: (1) World War II during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946, including members of the armed forces who were lost during flight operations in the Pacific theater of operations covered by section 576 of the National Defense Authoriza- tion Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106–65; 10 U.S.C. 1501 note). (2) The Cold War during the period beginning on September 2, 1945, and ending on August 21, 1991. (3) The Korean War during the period begin- ning on June 27, 1950, and ending on January 31, 1955. (4) The Indochina War era during the period beginning on July 8, 1959, and ending on May 15, 1975. (5) The Persian Gulf War during the period beginning on August 2, 1990, and ending on February 28, 1991. (6) Such other conflicts in which members of the armed forces served as the Secretary of Defense may designate. (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—(1) The Secretary of De- fense shall implement the program within the Department of Defense through the designated Agency Director. (2)(A) The Secretary shall assign or detail to the designated Defense Agency on a full-time basis a senior medical examiner from the per- sonnel of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System. The primary duties of the medical ex- aminer so assigned or detailed shall include the identification of remains in support of the func-