Armed Forces Act 1971

73 Appeal against sentence by civilians

(1) The [1968 c. 20.] Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968 (under which appeals to the Courts-Martial Appeal Court are confined to appeals against conviction) shall be amended in accordance with subsections (2) and (3) below.

(2) In section 8—

(a) at the end of subsection (1) (which confers the right of appeal) there shall be added the words " and, if he was a civilian (as defined in subsection (5) below) both at the time of his conviction and when the offence was committed, may also with the leave of the Court appeal against his sentence, unless it is one fixed by law ", and

(b) the following subsection shall be added after subsection (4)—

“(5) In this section ' civilian' means any person who is not subject to service law (meaning military law, air-force law and the Naval Discipline Act) and any person within section 208A or 209 of the Army Act, section 208A or 209 of the Air Force Act or section 117 or 118 of the Naval Discipline Act (which apply certain provisions of those Acts to passengers in Her Majesty's ships and aircraft, persons employed by or accompanying Her Majesty's forces, families of members of those forces etc.).”

(3) The following section shall be inserted after section 16:—

“16A Powers on appeals against sentence.

On an appeal against sentence the Appeal Court, if they consider that the sentence is not appropriate for the case, may quash the sentence and pass in substitution for it such sentence as they think is appropriate, being a sentence which the court-martial had power to pass and which is not of greater severity than that for which it is substituted”.

(4) The provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect, being provisions making in the said Act of 1968 and the other enactments there specified amendments consequential on, or otherwise connected with, the preceding provisions of this section.