From the court-martial itself, the case goes to the convening authority, the officer who called the court into being.

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Craig Franklin, the convening authority in the case, threw out the verdict.

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"His treatment met the legal definition of torture, " Susan Crawford, then head of the convening authority of military commissions, told The Washington Post.

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The charges were dropped "without prejudice" by Susan Crawford, convening authority at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to Pentagon spokesman Cmdr.

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In his letter to Boxer, Hagel refers to Franklin as the "convening authority, " a term for a commander who is responsible for establishing a court-martial.

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The Uniform Code of Military Justice gives a convening authority the "sole discretion" to reduce or set aside guilty verdicts and sentences, or to reverse a jury's verdict.

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Hagel also said the Wilkerson case raises the question of whether it is necessary or appropriate "to place the convening authority in the position of having the responsibility to review the findings and sentence of a court-martial, " particularly when military law allows for a rigorous appeal process.

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Finally, the event illustrated the convening power of culture and traditional authority in national development.

UNESCO: THEMES