This marks the only appearance of the female Starfleet dress uniform during The Original Series, worn by Lt. Areel Shaw (Joan Marshall). Key differences between this uniform and the standard female uniform are a satin-like sheen, a gold braid on the edge of the collar, and a longer skirt.
Producer Gene L. Coon contacted writer Don Mankiewicz with a proposal to write a compelling dramatic story which could be filmed using a single and easily constructed set. (For the final episode, of course, four new sets were constructed: Commodore Stone's office, Kirk's quarters on the starbase, the bar/lounge and the courtroom itself.) Mankiewicz came up with the idea of a courtroom drama, and wrote "Court-martial on Starbase 811". The script needed to be heavily re-written, but Mankiewicz was not available further, so story editor Steven W. Carabatsos got the job. It was Carabatsos who shortened the title to "Court Martial".
The door through which Spock and McCoy enter the courtroom is one of the few hinged doors seen in the original series.
Elisha Cook Jr. had great difficulty remembering his lines. The speech of his character, Sam Cogley, was pieced together with editing.
This is the first episode in which the names "Starfleet" and "Starfleet Command" were used.