16Chapter 4 of Part 8 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 is amended as follows.
17In the Chapter heading, for “under 12 Months” substitute “two years or less”.
18Omit section 196 (and the italic heading before it).
19For section 200 substitute—
(1)In the following provisions of the Sentencing Code, “court” includes a relevant service court—
(a)section 264 (suspended sentence order for offender under 21: availability);
(b)section 277 (suspended sentence order for person aged 21 or over: availability);
(c)in Chapter 5 of Part 10 (suspended sentences)—
(i)section 286 (suspended sentence order);
(ii)section 292 (power to impose requirements);
(iii)section 298 (provision of copies of order etc);
(iv)section 302 (duty to obtain permission before changing residence);
(d)Schedule 9 (community requirements), other than paragraphs 21 and 22 (review of drug rehabilitation requirement);
(e)in Schedule 17 (transfer of suspended sentence orders to Scotland and Northern Ireland)—
(i)paragraph 1 (restriction on making relevant suspended sentence order where offender resides in Scotland);
(ii)paragraph 4 (restriction on making relevant suspended sentence order where offender resides in Northern Ireland);
(iii)Part 3 (making of orders);
and the provisions of the Sentencing Code relating to suspended sentence orders apply accordingly to suspended sentence orders made by a relevant service court.
(2)In their application to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court, the provisions of the Sentencing Code relating to suspended sentence orders are modified as set out in—
(a)sections 200A to 204, and
(b)Schedule 7 (modifications of Schedule 16 to the Sentencing Code (breach or amendment of suspended sentence order and effect of further conviction)).
Section 286 of the Sentencing Code has effect in relation to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court as if—
(a)after subsection (2) there were inserted—
“(2A)But a court may not specify a requirement to be complied with outside the United Kingdom.”;
(b)in subsection (3), for paragraph (a) (but not the “or” after it) there were substituted—
“(a)commits during the operational period—
(i)another service offence (within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006), or
(ii)an offence under the law of any part of the British Islands,”.”
20In section 202 (order with community requirements: disapplication of certain provisions)—
(a)for “Chapter 4 of Part 12 of the 2003 Act” substitute “the Sentencing Code”;
(b)for “section 207(3)(a)(ii)” substitute “paragraph 17(2)(c) of Schedule 9”;
(c)for “section 219(3)” substitute “section 298(4)”.
21For section 203 (review of order with community requirements), substitute—
(1)Section 293 of the Sentencing Code (power to provide for review of suspended sentence order) has effect in relation to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court as if for subsections (4) to (6) there were substituted—
“(4)In this section “the responsible court” in relation to a suspended sentence order means the Crown Court.”
(2)In their application to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court, paragraphs 21 and 22 of Schedule 9 to the Sentencing Code are modified as follows.
(3)Paragraph 21 (court review of drug rehabilitation requirement) has effect as if for sub-paragraphs (4) to (6) there were substituted—
“(4)In this paragraph “the responsible court”, in relation to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court imposing a drug rehabilitation requirement, means the Crown Court.”
(4)Paragraph 22 (periodic review of drug rehabilitation requirement) has effect as if after sub-paragraph (5) there were inserted—
“(5A)In a case where the order was made by the Service Civilian Court, a term of imprisonment or detention in a young offender institution or fine imposed under sub-paragraph (4)(b) must not exceed—
(a)in the case of a term of imprisonment or detention in a young offender institution, 6 months;
(b)in the case of a fine, the prescribed sum within the meaning of section 32 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.
(5B)Where a sentence is passed under sub-paragraph (4)(b), section 9 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 (appeal against sentence) applies as if the offender had been convicted on indictment of the offence for which the sentence was passed.”.”
22For section 204 (transfer to Scotland or Northern Ireland of order with community requirements) substitute—
Schedule 17 to the Sentencing Code (transfer of suspended sentence orders to Scotland or Northern Ireland) has effect in relation to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court as if—
(a)in paragraph 23, sub-paragraph (1)(b) and (c) were omitted;
(b)in paragraph 25, sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) were omitted;
(c)in paragraph 38, sub-paragraph (3)(b) were omitted;
(d)in paragraph 41(1), for the definition of “original court” there were substituted—
““original court”, in relation to an SSSO or an NISSO, means the Crown Court;”.”
23Omit section 205.
24Omit section 206.
25For section 207 (definitions for purposes of Chapter) substitute—
In this Chapter—
“relevant service court” means any of the following—
the Court Martial;
the Service Civilian Court;
the Court Martial Appeal Court;
the Supreme Court on an appeal brought from the Court Martial Appeal Court;
“suspended sentence order” has the same meaning as in the Sentencing Code (see section 286(6) of that Code);
“suspended sentence order with community requirements” means a suspended sentence order that specifies one or more community requirements (see section 286(2) of that Code).”
26For Schedule 7 (suspended prison sentence: further conviction or breach of requirement) substitute—
Section 200(2)(b)
1Schedule 16 to the Sentencing Code (breach or amendment of suspended sentence order, and effect of further conviction) applies to a suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court with the following modifications.
2Part 1 (preliminary) has effect as if—
(a)in paragraph 1(1), for the definition of “the appropriate court” there were substituted—
““the appropriate court” means the Crown Court;”;
(b)at the end of paragraph 1(1) there were inserted—
““relevant service court” has the same meaning as in Chapter 4 of Part 8 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (see section 207 of that Act);
“service offence” has the same meaning as in the Armed Forces Act 2006 (see section 50 of that Act).”;
(c)paragraphs 3 to 5 were omitted.
3Part 2 (breach of community requirement or conviction of further offence) has effect as if—
(a)in paragraph 6(4)(c), for “a court” there were substituted “the Crown Court”;
(b)in paragraph 7, for paragraph (b) there were substituted—
“(b)where appropriate, cause an information to be laid before the Crown Court in respect of the offender’s breach of the requirement.”;
(c)paragraph 8 were omitted;
(d)in paragraph 9—
(i)in the heading, the words “Crown Court order:” were omitted;
(ii)in sub-paragraph (1), for “Crown Court order” there were substituted “suspended sentence order made by a relevant service court”;
(e)paragraph 10 were omitted;
(f)paragraphs 11 to 15 were modified as set out in paragraphs 4 to 8 of this Schedule;
(g)after paragraph 15 there were inserted the paragraph 15A set out in paragraph 9 of this Schedule;
(h)paragraphs 17 to 19 were modified as set out in paragraphs 10 to 12 of this Schedule;
(i)paragraph 20 were omitted.
4Paragraph 11 (offender before magistrates’ court: further conviction) has effect as if—
(a)sub-paragraph (1) were omitted;
(b)in sub-paragraph (2), for the words from “made” to the end, there were substituted “made by a relevant service court, the magistrates’ court must notify the appropriate officer of the Court Martial of the conviction.”;
(c)sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) were omitted.
5Paragraph 12 (offender before Crown Court: breach of community requirement or further conviction) has effect as if—
(a)in the heading, after “Crown Court” there were inserted “, Court Martial or Service Civilian Court”;
(b)in sub-paragraph (1)(b), the words “or (3)” were omitted;
(c)in sub-paragraph (2), paragraph (a)(iii) (but not the “and” following it) were omitted;
(d)for sub-paragraph (3) there were substituted—
“(3)Where—
(a)an offender to whom a suspended sentence order relates is convicted of a service offence or an offence under the law of any part of the British Islands that was committed during the operational period of the order,
(b)the suspended sentence order has not taken effect, and
(c)either—
(i)the offender is so convicted by the Crown Court, the Court Martial or the Service Civilian Court, or
(ii)the offender subsequently appears or is brought before the Court Martial,
the court must deal with the case under paragraph 13.
(3A)Anything that under section 376(1) and (2) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 is treated as a conviction for the purposes of that Act is also to be treated as a conviction for the purposes of sub-paragraph (3).”
6Paragraph 13 (powers of court to deal with offender on breach of requirement or subsequent conviction) has effect as if—
(a)in sub-paragraph (1)—
(i)in the opening words, for “a court” there were substituted “the Crown Court, the Court Martial or the Service Civilian Court”;
(ii)in paragraph (c), at the beginning there were inserted “where the court dealing with the offender is the Crown Court,”;
(b)sub-paragraph (2) were omitted.
7Paragraph 14 (exercise of power in paragraph 13: duty to make activation order where not unjust) has effect as if—
(a)in sub-paragraph (1), for “The court” there were substituted “The Crown Court, the Court Martial or the Service Civilian Court”;
(b)in sub-paragraph (2)(b), the words “11 or” were omitted.
8Paragraph 15 (activation orders: further provision) has effect as if—
(a)in the heading, after “orders” there were inserted “made by the Crown Court”;
(b)in sub-paragraph (1), for “a court” there were substituted “the Crown Court”;
(c)for sub-paragraph (3) there were substituted—
“(3)For the purpose of any enactment conferring rights of appeal against sentence in criminal cases—
(a)the activation order is to be treated as a sentence passed on the offender by the Crown Court for the offence for which the suspended sentence was passed, and
(b)the offender is to be treated as if he or she had been convicted on indictment of that offence.”;
(d)in sub-paragraph (4) at the end there were inserted “and a custodial sentence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (see section 374 of that Act)”.
9The paragraph 15A to be inserted after paragraph 15 is as follows—
15A(1)This paragraph applies where the Court Martial or the Service Civilian Court makes an activation order relating to a suspended sentence.
(2)The activation order may provide for—
(a)the sentence to take effect immediately, or
(b)the term of the sentence to begin on the expiry of another custodial sentence passed on the offender.
(3)The reference in sub-paragraph (2) to another custodial sentence does not include a sentence from which the offender has been released early under Chapter 6 of Part 12 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 or Part 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.
(4)For the purposes of sections 285 to 287 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (appeals from Service Civilian Court) or, as the case may be, the Court Martial Appeals Act 1968—
(a)an activation order made by the Court Martial or the Service Civilian Court is to be treated as a sentence passed on the offender, by the court that made the order, for the offence for which the suspended sentence was passed, and
(b)if the offender was not convicted of that offence by that court, he or she is to be treated for the purpose of enabling an appeal against the order as if he or she had been so convicted.
(5)For the purposes of any appeal against the order, references in section 16A of the Court Martial Appeals Act 1968 to passing a sentence include making an order.
(6)In this paragraph “custodial sentence” includes a pre-Code custodial sentence (see section 222(4)) and a custodial sentence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (see section 374 of that Act).”
10Paragraph 17 (treatment requirement: reasonable refusal to undergo certain treatment) has effect as if, in sub-paragraph (2), the words “10(1)(b) or” were omitted.
11Paragraph 18 (duty of court in Scotland or Northern Ireland when informed of suspended sentence) has effect as if—
(a)in sub-paragraph (b), for “in England or Wales” there were substituted “(anywhere) by a relevant service court”;
(b)in the words following sub-paragraph (b), for “the court by which the suspended sentence was passed” there were substituted “the Court Martial”.
12Paragraph 19 (issue of summons or warrant where court convicting of further offence does not deal with suspended sentence) has effect as if—
(a)in sub-paragraph (1)—
(i)in the opening words, for “the Crown Court” there were substituted “the Court Martial”;
(ii)in paragraph (a), for the words from “United Kingdom” to “Court” there were substituted “British Islands of an offence committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence order passed by a relevant service court, or has been convicted of a service offence committed during that period”;
(b)in sub-paragraph (2), for “Crown Court” there were substituted “Court Martial”;
(c)in sub-paragraph (3), for “Crown Court” there were substituted “Court Martial”.
13Part 3 (amendment of order) has effect as if in paragraph 25 (amendment of community requirements of suspended sentence order), after sub-paragraph (8) there were inserted—
“(8A)In a case where the order was made by the Service Civilian Court, a term of imprisonment or detention in a young offender institution or fine imposed under sub-paragraph (7)(b) must not exceed—
(a)in the case of a term of imprisonment or detention in a young offender institution, 6 months;
(b)in the case of a fine, the prescribed sum within the meaning of section 32 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.
(8B)Where a sentence is passed under sub-paragraph (7)(b), section 9 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 (appeal against sentence) applies as if the offender had been convicted on indictment of the offence for which the sentence was passed.”
14Part 4 (supplementary) has effect as if in paragraph 28 (provision of copies of orders etc)—
(a)in sub-paragraph (1) for “a court” there were substituted “the Crown Court or a relevant service court”;
(b)in sub-paragraph (3), paragraph (b) were omitted;
(c)sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) were omitted.”