Armed Forces Act 2006

49 Air Navigation Order offences

(1) If a person subject to service law, or a civilian subject to service discipline, does in or in relation to a military aircraft any act that if done in or in relation to a civil aircraft would amount to a prescribed Air Navigation Order offence, the act shall be treated for the purposes of section 42(1) as punishable by the law of England and Wales.

(2) Where an act is an offence under section 42 by reason of subsection (1) above—

(a) section 42(8)(b) does not apply; and

(b) it shall be assumed for the following purposes that the act amounted to the offence under the law of England and Wales that it would have amounted to if it had been done in or in relation to a civil aircraft.

(3) Those purposes are—

(a) the purpose of determining what punishment may be imposed for the offence under section 42;

(b) the purpose of determining for the purposes of any of the following provisions of this Act whether the act constituting the offence under section 42 is—

(i) an offence under the law of England and Wales;

(ii) any particular such offence;

(iii) such an offence of any particular description.

(4) In this section—

• “military aircraft” has the meaning given by section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (c. 16);

• “civil aircraft” means an aircraft that is registered in the United Kingdom and is not a military aircraft;

• “Air Navigation Order offence” means an offence under an Order in Council made under section 60 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (whenever made, and whether or not also made under any other enactment);

• “prescribed” means prescribed by an order made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section.