Naval Discipline Act 1957 (repealed)

38 Offences in relation to courts-martial.F10 U.K.

(1) Every person subject to this Act who—

(a) having been duly summoned or ordered to attend before a court-martial, fails to comply with the summons or order;

(b) refuses to take an oath or make an affirmation when duly required by a court-martial to do so;

(c) refuses to produce any [F1 document or other thing which is in his custody or under his control and] which a court-martial has lawfully required him to produce;

(d) when a witness, refuses to answer any question which a court-martial has lawfully required him to answer;

(e) wilfully insults any person, being a member of a court-martial or a witness or any other person whose duty it is to attend on or before the court, while that person is acting as a member thereof or is so attending, or while that person is going to or returning from the proceedings of the court; or

(f) wilfully interrupts the proceedings of a court-martial, or otherwise misbehaves before the court,

shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.

(2) References in subsection (1) of this section to a court-martial shall include references to a court-martial held in pursuance of the M1 Army Act 1955, or the M2 Air Force Act 1955, or the law of any colony F2 . . . .

(3) Where an offence against subsection (1) of this section is committed in relation to a court-martial and the court is of opinion that it is expedient that the offender should be dealt with summarily by the court instead of being brought to trial under this Act, the court may by order under the hand of the president sentence [F3 the offender—

(a) if he is an officer, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty-one days, or to a fine not exceeding the amount of his pay for twenty-eight days F4 . . .,

(b) in any other case, to imprisonment or detention for such a term as aforesaid, or to such a fine as aforesaid.]

[F5 (3A) If the offender has attained seventeen years of age but is under twenty-one years of age, [F6 subsection (3)] above shall have effect in relation to him as if the power to impose a sentence of imprisonment were a power to make an order under section 43AA below.]

[F7 (3B) For the purposes of subsection (3) above, a day’s pay shall be taken to be–

(a) subject to paragraph (b) below, the gross pay which is, or would apart from any forfeiture be, issuable to the offender in respect of the day on which the order is made;

(b) if the offender is a special member of a reserve force, the gross pay which would have been issuable to him in respect of that day if he had been an ordinary member of that reserve force of the same rank.

(3C) In subsection (3B)(b) above “special member” and “ordinary member” have the same meaning as in the Reserve Forces Act 1996.]

[F8 (4) References in paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (1) of this section to a court-martial or to a member of a court-martial include references to a judicial officer or a person appointed under section 75L of the Army Act 1955 or section 75L of the Air Force Act 1955 and, in relation to an offence committed in relation to a judicial officer, subsection (3) of this section shall have effect as if—

(a) references to a court-martial were references to the judicial officer, and

(b) the words “under the hand of the president” were omitted.]

[F9 (5) References in paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (1) of this section to a court-martial include references to the summary appeal court, the court established by section 83ZA of the Army Act 1955 or the court established by section 83ZA of the Air Force Act 1955 and, in relation to an offence committed in relation to the summary appeal court, subsection (3) of this section shall have effect as if the reference to a court-martial were a reference to the summary appeal court.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 38(1)(c) substituted (28.2.2002) by 2001 c. 19, s. 24(2)(e); S.I. 2002/345, art. 2 (subject to art. 3)

F2 Words in s. 38(2) repealed (28.2.2002) by 2001 c. 19, s. 38, Sch. 7 Pt. 1; S.I. 2002/345, art. 2 (subject to art. 3)

F3 Words substituted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), ss. 23(3), 78(4)

F4 Words in s. 38(3)(a) repealed (1.1.1999) by S.I. 1998/3086, reg. 4(1)(b)

F5 S. 38(3A) inserted by Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c. 48, SIF 39:1), s. 58, Sch. 8 para. 1(1)(2)

F6 Words substituted (retrospectively) by Armed Forces Act 1986 (c. 21, SIF 7:1), s. 16(1), Sch. 1 para. 2

F7 S. 38(3B) and (3C) inserted (1.1.1999) by S.I. 1998/3086, reg. 4(3)

F8 S. 38(4) inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 10, Sch. 1 para. 6; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with Sch. para. 15)

F9 S. 38(5) inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 25, Sch. 3 para. 3; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with Sch. para. 15)

Marginal Citations

M1 1955 c. 18.

M2 1955 c. 19.

Textual Amendments applied to the whole legislation

F10 Act repealed (prosp.) by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), ss. 378, 383, Sch. 17 and the repeal being partly in force, as to which see individual provisions