[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR97.2]

[Page 464-465]
 
                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
              CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
 
PART 97_RELEASE OF OFFICIAL INFORMATION IN LITIGATION AND TESTIMONY BY DoD PERSONNEL AS WITNESSES--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  97.2  Applicability and scope.

    (a) This directive applies to the Office of the Secretary of Defense 
(OSD), the Military Departments, the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff (OJCS), the Unified and Specified Commands, and the Defense 
Agencies (hereafter referred to as ``DoD Components''), and to all 
personnel of such DoD Components.
    (b) This directive does not apply to the release of official 
information or testimony by DoD personnel in the following situations:
    (1) Before courts-martial convened by the authority of the Military 
Departments or in administrative proceedings conducted by or on behalf 
of a DoD Component;
    (2) Pursuant to administrative proceedings conducted by or on behalf 
of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Merit 
Systems Protection Board (MSPB), or pursuant to a negotiated grievance 
procedure under a collective bargaining agreement to which the 
Government is a party;
    (3) In response to requests by Federal Government counsel in 
litigation conducted on behalf of the United States;
    (4) As part of the assistance required pursuant to DoD Directive 
5220.6, ``Industrial Personnel Security Clearance Program,'' December 20 
1976; or,
    (5) Pursuant to disclosure of information to Federal, State, and 
local prosecuting and law enforcement authorities, in conjunction with 
an investigation conducted by a DoD criminal investigative organization.
    (c) This Directive does not supersede or modify existing laws or DoD 
program governing the testimony of DoD personnel or the release of 
official DoD information during grand jury proceedings, the release of 
official information not involved in litigation, or the release of 
official information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 
U.S.C. 552, or the Privacy Act, 5

[[Page 465]]

U.S.C. 552a, nor does this Directive preclude treating any written 
request for agency records that is not in the nature of legal process as 
a request under the Freedom of Information or Privacy Acts.
    (d) This Directive is not intended to infringe upon or displace the 
responsibilities committed to the Department of Justice in conducting 
litigation on behalf of the United States in appropriate cases.
    (e) This Directive does not preclude official comment on matters in 
litigation in appropriate cases.
    (f) This Directive is intended only to provide guidance for the 
internal operation of the Department of Defense and is not intended to, 
does not, and may not be relied upon to create any right or benefit, 
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law against the United States 
or the Department of Defense.