Naval Courts-Martial (Procedure) Order, 1957
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1957/2225 |
| Year | 1957 |
1957 No. 2225
ROYAL NAVY
The Naval Courts-Martial (Procedure) Order, 195720thDecember 1957
31stDecember 1957
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 20th day of December, 1957
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas there was this day read at the Board a Report of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, dated the 2nd day of December, 1957, in the words following:—
"Whereas by Order in Council of the 31st day of October, 1957, there was referred unto this Committee a Memorial of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty dated the 23rd day of October, 1957, praying that the General Orders for regulating the procedure and practice of Naval Courts-Martial contained in the Schedule to the said Memorial be approved:
"The Lords of the Committee, in obedience to the said Order of Reference have taken the said Memorial and the said General Orders into consideration and Their Lordships do this day agree humbly to report to Your Majesty in Council as their opinion that the General Orders regulating the procedure and practice of Naval Courts-Martial set out in the Schedule annexed to this Report ought to be approved."
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, having taken the said Report into consideration, and in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by subsection (4) of section 58 of the Naval Discipline Act, 1957(a), and of all other powers Her enabling, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order and it is hereby ordered as follows:—
1. The General Orders aforesaid as set out in the Schedule to this Order are hereby approved.
2. This Order shall come into operation on such date as may be appointed for the coming into force of the Naval Discipline Act, 1957, and may be cited as the Naval Courts-Martial (Procedure) Order, 1957.
And the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.
W. G. Agnew.
(a) 5 & 6 Eliz. 2. c. 53.
SCHEDULE
REVISED GENERAL ORDERS REGULATING THE PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE OF NAVAL COURTS-MARTIAL
These General Orders supersede the General Orders regulating the procedure and practice of naval courts-martial contained in the Naval Courts-Martial (Procedure) Order, 1953(a).
In these General Orders, unless the context requires otherwise, the words "the Act" mean the Naval Discipline Act 1957 and any Naval Discipline Act for the time being in force; the words "convening authority" mean an authority having power to order courts-martial, or, when a court-martial has been ordered, the authority who ordered that particular court-martial or his successor in command; and the words "open court" include periods during which the public is excluded under section 61 (2) of the Act.
PROCEDURE PREPARATORY TO TRIAL
2102. Application for Trial. An application for the trial by court-martial of any person on any charge shall be made as follows. There shall be forwarded to the convening authority through the usual channels a letter, hereinafter called the circumstantial letter, reporting the circumstances on which the charge or charges are founded in the order of their occurrence, and in sufficient detail to show the real nature and extent of the offence; when words constitute the substance of the offence, they are to be fully and exactly set out. The letter is not to refer in any way to the previous character, conduct or convictions of the accused, or to contain any reference to facts prejudicial to him other than such as bear directly on the charges.
2. When a charge is drawn under section 19 of the Act, the circumstantial letter must contain specific details of every respect in which it is alleged that the accused was at fault. (On evidence of negligence arising during the trial but not alleged in the circumstantial letter, see 2256.)
3. Statements made by the accused in the course of enquiries or during an investigation or after he has been charged are not to be included in the circumstantial letter (unless they constitute an essential part of the alleged offence, such as in a charge of perjury). They should be forwarded as an annex to the circumstantial letter in a separate document and reference should be made in the circumstantial letter itself to the fact that such statements were made and to their inclusion in the annex.
2105. Documents to accompany Circumstantial Letter. There shall also be forwarded at the same time as the circumstantial letter a further letter enclosing—
(a) The charge or charges drawn in accordance with the prescribed forms in the very words in which the offence is described in the section of the Naval Discipline Act or other Act under which it falls, and signed by the officer who signed the circumstantial letter. Such charges may be in addition to or substitution for charges which were put to the accused during the course of any investigation.
(b) A list of witnesses for the prosecution.
(c) A summary of evidence in support of the charges.
(d) A list of the exhibits which the prosecutor proposes to put in evidence.
And when the offender is below the rank of officer:—
(e) A certified extract of all entries of offences and punishments in the Record of Offences Sheet prior to the date of the offence charged but subsequent to his joining his present ship, with his character assessed from the previous 31st December to the date of the offence with which he may be charged but excluding all consideration of that offence.
(f) A certified copy of the accused's certificate of service.
(a) S.I. 1953/594 (1953 II, p. 1487).
2108. Opportunity to Prepare Defence. An accused person, for whose trial by court-martial an application has been made, shall be afforded as full an opportunity as is consistent with the exigencies of the Service of preparing his defence and of free communication with his witnesses or with any adviser whom he may wish to consult.
2109. Friend of the Accused. Unless the person charged desires to conduct his own case, he may have a person or persons to assist him during the trial, whether an officer, rating or legal adviser. He may request and is to be afforded at the earliest possible moment the assistance of any officer or rating in his ship whose assistance is reasonably available. Should no such request be made or should an accused person be unable to obtain assistance, it shall be the duty of such officer as the convening authority may direct to assist him.
2. Where the accused person is not otherwise legally represented and the trial is expected to give rise to complexities, the convening authority shall consider whether it is desirable to appoint as the accused's friend, subject to his consent, an officer who has undergone legal training.
DUTIES OF THE CONVENING AUTHORITY
2115. Sufficiency of Charges and Evidence. When it is proposed to try a person on any charge, the convening authority shall not order a court-martial to assemble until he has satisfied himself that the charges are correct and sufficient, and that they are properly framed and carefully drawn up, and until he has also satisfied himself that the evidence, if uncontradicted or unexplained, will probably suffice to ensure a conviction. He shall then countersign the charge sheet to indicate his approval of the form in which the charges are to be brought and shall transmit it to the officer who is to prosecute.
2119. Documents to President and Members. The convening authority shall issue to the officer nominated by him to preside at the court-martial a warrant under his hand in the prescribed form, directing him to assemble a court-martial.
2. He shall transmit to the president and members a copy of the charge sheet but shall not send them a copy of the circumstantial letter. When evidence is to be given on the navigation of any of Her Majesty's ships, vessels or aircraft he may send to the president but not to the other members a copy of those parts of the circumstantial letter containing navigational data and, when the accused is charged under section 19 of the Act, a note of the information referred to in article 2102 (2) (see also 2161 (4)).
2120. Appointment of officials at courts-martial. The convening authority or such officer as he may direct may, by warrant under his hand in the prescribed form, appoint a person to officiate as judge advocate at the trial, and shall in that case send to him (or, in a sealed envelope, to the president for him) a copy of the circumstantial letter, and any statement(s) annexed thereto, a list of the officers constituting the court, the names of the officers nominated as spare members and the documents mentioned in article 2105 (a), (b), (c) and (d).
2. The convening authority or such officer as he may direct may, by warrant under his hand in the prescribed form, appoint a person to officiate as clerk of the court at the trial and shall forward to him (or, in a sealed envelope, to the president for him) a list of the officers constituting the court, the names of the officers nominated as spare members, a copy of the circumstantial letter and any statement(s) annexed thereto, copies of the documents mentioned in article 2105 and the list of persons who have been tried by court-martial or disciplinary court, or a certified extract therefrom.
3. Appointment of Provost Marshal. The convening authority or such officer as he may direct shall, by warrant under his hand in the prescribed form, appoint a provost marshal to take the accused into his custody and keep him safely until he shall have been delivered in due course of law.
4. When to Appoint a Prosecutor. It is the duty of the Captain of the ship to which the accused belongs to act as prosecutor in ordinary cases, but if for any reason it is undesirable or impossible for the Captain or Executive Officer of that ship to conduct the prosecution, the convening authority shall appoint a competent person to undertake the duty.
DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT
2123. Appointment of Judge Advocate and Clerk of the Court...
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