Armed Forces Act 2006

[F1 Disclosing information about members' deliberations etc: further exceptions U.K.

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 2A inserted (13.4.2015) by Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (c. 2), s. 95(1), Sch. 14 para. 3; S.I. 2015/778, art. 3, Sch. 1 para. 80 (with Sch. 2 paras. 3(c), 4(c))

7 (1) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a person to disclose information to a person listed in sub-paragraph (2) if— U.K.

(a) the disclosure is made after the proceedings mentioned in paragraph 5(1) terminate, and

(b) the person making the disclosure reasonably believes that—

(i) an offence or contempt of court has been, or may have been, committed by or in relation to a lay member in connection with those proceedings, or

(ii) conduct of a lay member in connection with those proceedings may provide grounds for an appeal against conviction or sentence.

(2) Those persons are—

(a) a member of a police force listed in section 375;

(b) a judge of the Court of Appeal;

(c) a judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court;

(d) the registrar of criminal appeals;

(e) the judge advocate who dealt with the proceedings mentioned in paragraph 5(1);

(f) the court administration officer for the Court Martial;

(g) a member of the Military Court Service who would reasonably be expected to disclose the information only to a person mentioned in paragraphs (b) to (f).

(3) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a member of a police force listed in section 375 to disclose information for the purposes of obtaining assistance in deciding whether to submit the information to—

(a) a judge of the Court of Appeal,

(b) a judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court, or

(c) the registrar of criminal appeals,

provided that the disclosure does not involve publishing the information.

(4) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a judge of the Court of Appeal, a judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court or the registrar of criminal appeals to disclose information for the purposes of an investigation by a relevant investigator into—

(a) whether an offence or contempt of court has been committed by or in relation to a lay member in connection with the proceedings mentioned in paragraph 5(1), or

(b) whether conduct of a lay member in connection with those proceedings may provide grounds for an appeal against conviction or sentence.

(5) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a judge of the Court of Appeal, a judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court or the registrar of criminal appeals to disclose information for the purposes of enabling or assisting—

(a) a person who was the defendant in the proceedings mentioned in paragraph 5(1), or

(b) a legal representative of such a person,

to consider whether conduct of a lay member in connection with those proceedings may provide grounds for an appeal against conviction or sentence.

(6) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a person who reasonably believes that a disclosure described in sub-paragraph (4) or (5) has been made to disclose information for the purposes of the investigation or consideration in question.

(7) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a person to disclose information in evidence in—

(a) proceedings for an offence or contempt of court alleged to have been committed by or in relation to a lay member in connection with the proceedings mentioned in paragraph 5(1),

(b) proceedings on an appeal, or an application for leave to appeal, against a decision in the proceedings mentioned in paragraph 5(1) where an allegation relating to conduct of or in relation to a lay member forms part of the grounds of appeal, or

(c) proceedings on any further appeal or reference arising out of proceedings mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).

(8) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 for a person to disclose information in the course of taking reasonable steps to prepare for proceedings described in sub-paragraph (7)(a) to (c).

(9) It is not an offence under paragraph 5 to publish information disclosed as described in sub-paragraph (7).

(10) In this paragraph—

• “publish” means make available to the public or a section of the public;

• “relevant investigator” means—

  (a)

  a police force listed in section 375;

  (b)

  the Attorney General;

  (c)

  the Criminal Cases Review Commission;

  (d)

  the Crown Prosecution Service;

  (e)

  the Service Prosecuting Authority;

  (f)

  any other person or class of person specified by the Lord Chancellor for the purposes of this paragraph by regulations.

(11) The Lord Chancellor must obtain the consent of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales before making regulations under this paragraph.]