The Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009

Substitution of conviction on different charge after guilty plea U.K.

114.—(1) This article applies, and section 14A of CMAA 1968 does not apply, where—

(a) an appellant has been convicted by a court-martial of an offence to which he pleaded guilty (“offence A”);

(b) if he had not so pleaded, he could lawfully have pleaded guilty to, or been found guilty of, some other offence (“offence B”); and

(c) it appears to the Appeal Court on an appeal against conviction that the plea of guilty indicates an admission by the appellant of facts which prove him guilty of offence B.

(2) The Appeal Court may, instead of allowing or dismissing the appeal, substitute for the appellant's plea of guilty a plea of guilty of offence B.

(3) Where the Appeal Court exercises the power conferred by paragraph (2), it may exercise any power that it would have had if—

(a) the appellant had been charged with, and had pleaded guilty to, offence B instead of offence A;

(b) the court-martial had passed, in respect of offence B (and any other offence in respect of which the sentence in respect of offence A was passed), the sentence that it passed in respect of offence A; and

(c) the appellant had appealed against that sentence.