STATUTES
| Published date | 01 July 1977 |
| Date | 01 July 1977 |
| Author | P. J. Rowe,S. G. M. Jetha |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1977.tb02435.x |
STATUTES
ARMED
FORCES
ACT 1976
THE
Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Dis-
cipline Act 1957 must be renewed every five years. The Armed
Forces Act 1976 does this subject to annual approval by both
Houses of Parliament.’ The quinquemial review affords a regular
opportunity to consider those Acts and to make amendments where
necessaiy.
The Act introduces changes in two main areas. First, the powers
of
a commanding officer in the Royal Marines, the Army and the
Royal Air Force to deal summarily with a serviceman are in-
creased.2 This follows from a recommendation of the Select Com-
mittee
on
the Armed Forces Bill of 1971 that the Ministry of
Defence examine the proposals for increasing these powers.
Secondly,
a
new court, the Standing Civilian Court,
is
to be estab-
lished to try those civilians subject to military law who commit
offences abroad and a greater range of sentences is to be made
available when civilians are tried either by the new court or by
court-martial.
Increased summary powers
A soldier who commits an offence under the Army Act 1955 will
first appear before his commanding officer. Depending
on
the
seriousness of the offence and the status of the accused he will
either be remanded for trial by court-martial or be dealt with sum-
marily by the commanding officer. However, if the latter course is
adopted the accused has the right to eled trial by court-martial if
the punishment to be imposed
on
a
finding
of
guilt involves loss of
pay or liberty. At the summary hearing the accused is not called
upon to plead to the charge. There is
no
legal representation but
he may cross-examine, give evidence himself and call witnesses in
defence.
There are between 1,600 and 1,800 Army (160 and
260
R.A.F.)
courts-martial each year.4
In
order to reduce the number and
administrative burden of courts-martial, to provide for a speedier
1
On
the
Second Reading of the Bill, it
was
proposed that the requirement
to
have the Service Discipline Acts renewed annually should be discontinued. Strong
opposition
on
this constitutional issue arose and the proposal was dropped.
2
The powers
of
a naval commanding officer are greater.
3
Army Act 1955,
s.
78
(5).
Queen’s Regulations [1975] Chap. 6 state: “if an
accused has elected to
be
tried by court-martial his punishment is not
€or
that
reason to be increased.”
4
Report
of
Select Committee, H.C. Paper 429
of
1975-76 (hereinafter S.C.), para.
30.
90 per cent. of accused plead guilty: Vol. 913 H.C. Deb. col. 671. The Report
of
ihe
Army and Air Force Courts;‘Martial Committee (1946) Cmd. 7608 considered
but rejected the institution of Military Magistrates” to
ease
the burden on
courts-martial.
444
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