Any person subject to air-force law who commits a civil offence, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, shall be guilty of an offence against this section.

In this Act the expression “civil offence” means any act or omission punishable by the law of England or which, if committed in England, would be punishable by that law; and in this Act the expression “the corresponding civil offence” means the civil offence the commission of which constitutes the offence against this section.

For the purpose of determining under this section whether an attempt to commit an offence is a civil offence, subsection (4) of section 1 of the M1Criminal Attempts Act 1981 (which relates to the offence of attempt) shall have effect as if for the words “offence which, if it were completed, would be triable in England and Wales as an indictable offence” there were substituted the words “civil offence consisting of an act punishable by the law of England and Wales as an indictable offence or an act which, if committed in England or Wales, would be so punishable by that law”.

Where the corresponding civil offence is one to which F7section 109, 110 or 111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 would apply, the court-martial shall impose the sentence required by subsection (2) of that section unless it is of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances which justify its not doing so.

A person shall not be charged with an offence against this section committed in the United Kingdom if the corresponding civil offence is treason, murder, manslaughter, treason-felony F8... F9or an offence under section 1 of the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 ... F10or an offence under section 1 of the M2Biological Weapons Act 1974 F11or an offence under section 2 or 11 of the Chemical Weapons Act 1996 F12or an offence under section 51 or 52 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 F13or an offence under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (rape).

F14In this and the following subsection the references to murder shall apply also to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring suicide.

Where the corresponding civil offence is murder or manslaughter F15, or an offence under section 1 of the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 or section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 consisting of the killing of a person,. . ., an offence against this section shall be deemed, for the purposes of the last foregoing subsection, to have been committed at the place of the commission of the act or occurrence of the neglect which caused the death, irrespective of the place of the death.

A person subject to air-force law may be charged with an offence against this section notwithstanding that he could on the same facts be charged with an offence against any other provision of this Part of this Act.