Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000

Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000

2000 CHAPTER 4

Commentary on Sections

Section 16: Officers qualified for membership of the Summary Appeal Court

48. This section inserts a new section into each of the SDAs.

Subsection (1) inserts a new section 83ZC into the Army Act 1955.  This section permits, with exceptions, any officer, who has held a commission in the Services for a total of two years or more, to sit as a member of the summary appeal court. There are two exceptions to this rule. Subsection(2) of the new section 83ZC allows rules to be made permitting officers who do not meet the qualifying criteria to be allowed to sit as members, in certain circumstances. Subsection(3) of the new section 83ZC excludes from membership various categories of persons, i.e. provost officers, lawyers, and the prosecuting authority and court administration officer or their staffs. Exchange officers who have a legal qualification from a Commonwealth country are also excluded. The exclusion of lawyers is intended to avoid undue influence on lay members of the court. (Similar reasoning underlies the exclusion of lawyers from juries in civilian criminal courts).

Subsection(2) inserts a new section 83ZC into the Air Force Act 1955. This section is identical in effect to that described above.

Subsection (3) inserts a new section 52FH into the Naval Discipline Act 1957.  This section is identical in effect to that described in subsection (1) above, except that an officer is required to have held a commission for three years before he is qualified to sit as a court member.  The commissioned service requirements for membership of the summary appeals court mirror those in each Service for membership of a court-martial.