Armed Forces Act 2006

Reasons U.K.

252 Duty to give reasons and explain sentence U.K.

(1) Any court or officer passing sentence on an offender for a service offence—

(a) must state in open court, in ordinary language and in general terms and in accordance with section 253, its (or his) reasons for deciding on the sentence passed; and

(b) must explain to the offender in ordinary language—

(i) the effect of the sentence;

(ii) where the offender is required to comply with any order forming part of the sentence, the effects of non-compliance with the order;

(iii) any power, on the application of the offender or any other person, to vary or review any order forming part of the sentence; and

(iv) where the sentence consists of or includes a fine, the effects of failure to pay the fine.

(2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply—

(a) to an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law; or

(b) to an offence the sentence for which, as a result of subsection (2) of section 225, 226 or 227 of this Act (required custodial sentences), falls to be imposed under section 110(2) or 111(2) of the Sentencing Act or section 51A(2) of the Firearms Act 1968 (c. 27).

(3) The Secretary of State may by order—

(a) prescribe cases in which subsection (1)(a) or (b) does not apply;

(b) prescribe cases in which the statement referred to in subsection (1)(a) or the explanation referred to in subsection (1)(b) may be made in the absence of the offender, or may be provided in written form.

(4) In this section and section 253 “sentence” includes any order made when dealing with the offender in respect of his offence.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 252 applied (31.10.2009) by The Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/2041), art. 1, rule 123

Commencement Information

I1 S. 252 in force at 28.3.2009 for specified purposes by S.I. 2009/812, art. 3(a)(b) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2009/1059)

I2 S. 252 in force at 31.10.2009 in so far as not already in force by S.I. 2009/1167, art. 4

253 Duties in complying with section 252 U.K.

(1) In complying with section 252(1)(a) an officer or the Summary Appeal Court must—

(a) mention any aggravating or mitigating factors which he (or it) has regarded as being of particular importance;

(b) if section 239 (guilty pleas) applies and as a result of taking into account a matter mentioned in section 239(2) the officer or court has imposed a punishment on the offender which is less severe than the punishment that would otherwise have been imposed, state that fact;

(c) where the sentence is one of service detention, state that he (or it) is of the opinion mentioned in section 242(4) and why; and

(d) where the sentence is one of forfeiture of seniority, reduction in rank or disrating, state that he (or it) is of the opinion mentioned in section 248(4) and why.

(2) In complying with section 252(1)(a) a court other than the Summary Appeal Court must—

(a) where guidelines indicate that a sentence of a particular kind, or within a particular range, would normally be appropriate for the offence and the sentence is of a different kind or is outside that range, state the court's reasons for deciding on a sentence of a different kind or outside that range;

(b) mention any aggravating or mitigating factors which the court has regarded as being of particular importance;

(c) if section 239 (guilty pleas) applies and as a result of taking into account a matter mentioned in section 239(2) the court has imposed a punishment on the offender which is less severe than the punishment it would otherwise have imposed, state that fact;

(d) where the sentence is a custodial sentence and section 260 applies (and the case does not fall within section 260(3)), state that it is of the opinion mentioned in section 260(2) and why;

(e) where the sentence is one of dismissal or dismissal with disgrace, state that it is of the opinion mentioned in section 265(1) and why;

(f) where the sentence is one of service detention, state that it is of the opinion mentioned in section 242(1) and why;

(g) where the sentence is one of forfeiture of seniority, reduction in rank or disrating, state that it is of the opinion mentioned in section 248(1) and why; and

(h) where the sentence consists of or includes a community punishment (and the case does not fall within section 151(2) of the 2003 Act as applied by section 270 of this Act), state that it is of the opinion mentioned in section 270(1) and why.

(3) In this section “guidelines” has the same meaning as in section 259.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2 S. 253(2) applied (31.10.2009) by The Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/2041), art. 1, rule 123

Commencement Information

I3 S. 253 in force at 28.3.2009 for specified purposes by S.I. 2009/812, art. 3(a)(b) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2009/1059)

I4 S. 253 in force at 31.10.2009 in so far as not already in force by S.I. 2009/1167, art. 4