The Court Martial Appeal Court Rules 2009

PART 4 U.K. DOCUMENTS

Registrar's powers to require information from the Judge Advocate General or the Court Martial U.K.

19.—(1) The registrar may require the Judge Advocate General, the judge advocate for any proceedings of the Court Martial, or the court administration officer to furnish the court with any document (in addition to the record of proceedings) or information which the registrar considers the court may require for the purpose of discharging its functions.

(2) After an application is refused or is abandoned, or the appeal or reference is determined or abandoned, the registrar must, subject to any order which the court may make, return the copy of the record of proceedings to the Judge Advocate General or the court administration officer.

(3) In this rule, reference means a reference mentioned in rule 45(2).

Documents and exhibits U.K.

20.—(1) The registrar may, on an application made to him by a party to the proceedings or where he considers it necessary for the proper determination of the proceedings, and must, where so directed by the court, obtain and keep available for use by the court any document, exhibit or other thing connected with the proceedings.

(2) The court may, at any stage of proceedings, whenever it thinks it necessary or expedient in the interests of justice to do so, order any person having custody or control of any document, exhibit or other thing connected with the proceedings to produce it to the registrar.

(3) After an application is refused or is abandoned, or the appeal or reference is determined or abandoned, the registrar must, subject to any order which the court may make, return any document, exhibit or other thing to the person who produced it.

(4) Unless the court otherwise directs, any order made under paragraph (2) must be served personally.

Copies of document, etc U.K.

21.—(1) Subject to rules 22 and 23 and to paragraphs (2) and (3), the registrar must, unless the court rules otherwise—

(a) provide a party to the proceedings with a copy of any document or record of proceedings held by the registrar for the purposes of an appeal or reference; or

(b) allow a party to the proceedings to inspect any document, exhibit or record of proceedings held by the registrar for those purposes.

(2) The registrar must not provide a copy or allow the inspection of—

(a) a document provided to the Court Martial, the court or the registrar on terms that it will not be further disclosed except in accordance with a ruling of the Court Martial or the court, or

(b) a transcript of a public interest order or an application for such an order,

except in pursuance of an order of the court and subject to such conditions, if any, as the court may direct.

(3) The duty under paragraph (1) to provide a copy of any document or record of proceedings shall not arise except—

(a) on payment by the party to the proceedings of any charge fixed by the registrar; or

(b) where the party to the proceedings is the person to whom proceedings relate and has been granted legal aid.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (3) shall require the registrar to supply free of any charge any copy of a document which he considers unnecessary for the purposes of the appeal or reference.

Security of documents, etc U.K.

22.  If the Secretary of State for Defence, or any person authorised on his behalf, certifies that, for reasons of national security, the whole or part of the record of proceedings or other document, or of any exhibit or other thing, ought not to be disclosed otherwise than to the court, or ought to be disclosed only subject to such conditions as he may specify, the registrar must permit inspection or supply a copy of the whole or that part of the document, exhibit or thing only in pursuance of an order of the court and subject to such conditions, if any, as the court may direct.

Public interest U.K.

23.  Nothing in these Rules shall affect any rule of law which authorises or requires the withholding of any document or the refusal to answer any question on the grounds that the disclosure of the document or the answering of the question would be injurious to the public interest.