Air Force Act 1955 (repealed)

Commencement, suspension and duration of sentencesF23 F24 U.K.

Textual Amendments applied to the whole legislation

F23 Act: the provisions of the 1955 Acts providing for findings of courts-martial to be subject to confirmation and to revision at the direction of the confirming officer cease to have effect (1.4.1997 subject to art. 3 of the commencing S.I.) by virtue of 1996 c. 46, s. 15; S.I. 1997/304, arts. 2, 3, Sch. 2

F24 Act repealed (1.1.2008 for the repeal of s. 180 only) by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), s. 383(2), Sch. 17; S.I. 2007/2913, art. 3 (with art. 4(1)(2))

118 Commencement of sentences. U.K.

(1) An air-force sentence of imprisonment or detention [F1 awarded by a court-martial] shall, subject to the [F2 following provisions of this Part of this Act and to] [F3 section 11(2) of the M1 Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968] (which empowers the Court in certain cases to direct that a sentence shall begin to run from the day on which the Court dismisses an application for leave to appeal), begin to run from the beginning of the day on which sentence was originally pronounced by the court-martial trying the offender F4 ...

(2) A sentence of imprisonment or detention passed by a court-martial on a warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or airman which is suspended in pursuance of section one hundred and twenty of this Act before he has been committed to prison or an air-force establishment shall not begin to run until the beginning of the day on which the suspension is determined F5 ....

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 118(1) inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 25, Sch. 3 para. 8(a); S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

F2 Words substituted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), s. 78(4), Sch. 1 para. 1(4)

F3 Words substituted by Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968 (c. 20), Sch. 4

F4 Words in s. 118(1) repealed (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, ss. 25, 27, Sch. 3 para. 8(b), Sch. 4; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

F5 Words in s. 118(2) omitted (18.7.2008) by virtue of The Armed Forces (Alignment of Service Discipline Acts) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1694), arts. 1, 23

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 118 excluded by Armed Forces Act 1976 (c. 52), Sch. 3 paras. 1(2), 18(7)

Marginal Citations

M1 1968 c. 20.

[F6 118ZA Commencement of sentence of detention awarded by commanding officer. U.K.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, subsections (2) to (4) below apply to a sentence of detention awarded by the offender’s commanding officer.

(2) If the offender so elects at the time of the award, his sentence shall begin to run from the day on which it is awarded.

(3) If the offender does not make an election under subsection (2) above or, having made such an election, withdraws it during the appeal period, his sentence or, in the case of withdrawal, the remainder of his sentence shall be suspended by virtue of this subsection—

(a) until the end of the appeal period, or

(b) where an appeal is brought within the appeal period, until the determination of the appeal.

(4) Where an appeal is brought—

(a) within the appeal period, by an offender who has made an election under subsection (2) above which has not been withdrawn, or

(b) after the end of the appeal period, by any offender,

the remainder of his sentence shall be suspended by virtue of this subsection until the determination of the appeal.

(5) In this section “the appeal period” means the period within which an appeal may be brought under section 83ZE(2) of this Act.]

Textual Amendments

F6 S. 118ZA inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 25, Sch. 3 para. 9; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

[F7 118A Consecutive terms of imprisonment and detention. U.K.

(1) Where any person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment, whether passed under this Act or otherwise, is awarded an air-force sentence of imprisonment, or where a person who is awarded an air-force sentence of imprisonment is further sentenced to imprisonment under section 57(2) of this Act, the court-martial by whom the subsequent or further sentence is awarded may order that that sentence shall begin to run from the expiry of the first-mentioned sentence.

(2) Where any person who is serving an air-force sentence of detention, or a sentence of detention passed on him under the M2 Army Act 1955 or the M3 Naval Discipline Act 1957, is found guilty under this Act of another offence for which he is awarded an air-force sentence of detention, or where a person who is awarded an air-force sentence of detention is further sentenced to detention under section 57(2) of this Act, the court-martial or officer by whom the subsequent or further sentence is awarded may order that that sentence shall begin to run from the expiry of the first-mentioned sentence.

[F8 (2A) Where on awarding a sentence of detention (“the subsequent sentence”) the offender’s commanding officer orders under subsection (2) of this section that the subsequent sentence is to begin to run from the expiry of another sentence (“the current sentence”)—

(a) section 118ZA of this Act shall have effect in relation to the subsequent sentence as if the reference in subsection (2) of that section to the day on which the sentence is awarded were a reference to the expiry of the current sentence, and

(b) where the suspension of a sentence by virtue of subsection (3) or (4) of that section would end before the expiry of the current sentence, the sentence shall run from the expiry of the current sentence.]

(3) Where a person is convicted by a general court-martial or a field general court-martial of two or more offences against section 70 of this Act consisting in the commission of a civil offence for which a civil court in England could award imprisonment, the court-martial may by its sentence award, for any of the said offences, a term of imprisonment which is to run from the expiry of a term awarded by that sentence for any other of those offences.]

Textual Amendments

F7 S. 118A inserted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), ss. 39(1)(2), 78(4)

F8 S. 118A(2A) inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 25, Sch. 3 para. 12; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

Marginal Citations

M2 1955 c. 18.

M3 1957 c. 53.

119 Duration of sentences of imprisonment and detention. U.K.

(1) Where a warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or airman has been sentenced to imprisonment or detention by a court-martial, and the sentence is suspended [F9 in pursuance of section 120 of this Act] after he has been committed to prison or an air-force establishment, the currency of the sentence shall be suspended from the beginning of the day after the day on which he is released in accordance with [F9 the provisions of the said section 120] until the beginning of the day on which the suspension is determined.

(2) Where any person serving an air-force sentence of imprisonment or detention becomes unlawfully at large during the currency of the sentence, then, in calculating the period for which he is liable to be imprisoned or detained in pursuance of the sentence, no account shall be taken of time elapsing during the period beginning with the day on which he became at large and ending with the day on which, as a person having become unlawfully at large, he is taken into air-force, naval or military custody or the custody of a civil authority or (not having been taken into such custody) returns to the place in which he was imprisoned or detained before he became unlawfully at large:

Provided that if he satisfies such authority as may be specified in that behalf by or under Imprisonment and Detention Rules that during any time during the last-mentioned period he was—

(a) in the custody of a civil authority, or

(b) if and in so far as Imprisonment and Detention Rules so provide, in the custody of any air-force, naval or military authority of any country or territory outside the United Kingdom as respects which arrangements have been made under section one hundred and twenty-six of this Act,

the last-mentioned time shall not be disregarded in calculating the period for which he is liable to be imprisoned or detained in pursuance of the air-force sentence.

(3) In the last foregoing subsection the expression “civil authority” means a civil authority (whether of the United Kingdom or of any country or territory outside the United Kingdom) authorised by law to detain persons, and includes a constable.

(4) Without prejudice to subsection (2) of this section, where any person serving an air-force sentence of imprisonment or detention has in accordance with Imprisonment and Detention Rules been temporarily released on compassionate grounds, then, in calculating the period for which he is liable to be imprisoned or detained in pursuance of the sentence, no account shall be taken of time elapsing during the period beginning with the day after that on which he is released and ending with the day on which he is required to return to custody.

(5) A person who for any period is released as mentioned in the last foregoing subsection or who is otherwise allowed, in pursuance of Imprisonment and Detention Rules, out of any air-force establishment or otherwise out of air-force custody for any period or subject to any condition shall, on failure to return at the expiration of the period or to comply with the condition, be treated for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section as being unlawfully at large.

(6) A person serving an air-force sentence of imprisonment or detention in civil custody who, after being temporarily released under civil law, is at large at any time during the period for which he is liable to be detained in civil custody in pursuance of his sentence shall be deemed to be unlawfully at large if the period for which he was temporarily released has expired or if an order recalling him has been made in pursuance of civil law.

(7) References in the last foregoing subsection to release or recall under civil law are references to release or recall in pursuance of rules made under subsection (5) of section forty-seven of the M4 Prison Act 1952, subsection (6) of section thirty-five of the M5 Prisons (Scotland) Act 1952, or paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section thirteen of the M6 Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953, or (in the case of a person serving his sentence outside the United Kingdom) in pursuance of any corresponding provision of the law of the country or territory in which he is serving his sentence.

Textual Amendments

F9 Words substituted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), s. 78(4), Sch. 1 para. 1(5)

Marginal Citations

M4 1952 c. 52.

M5 1952 c. 61.

M6 1953 c. 18 (N.I.)

[F10 119A Limitation of total period of sentences of detention. U.K.

—(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Part of this Act, no offender shall be kept continuously in detention for a period exceeding two years in pursuance of two or more sentences of detention.

(2) Subsection (1) above shall not affect the validity of any order or direction under this Part of this Act that a sentence of detention shall begin to run from the expiry of another such sentence; but so much of any term of detention to which any such order or direction relates as would prolong the total term of detention beyond two years shall be remitted by virtue of the order or direction.

[F11 (2A) Where the whole or part of a sentence of detention is suspended by virtue of section 118ZA(3) or (4) of this Act, any period of detention ending with the beginning of the suspension shall be taken for the purposes of subsection (1) above to be continuous with any period of detention beginning with the end of the suspension.]

(3) Where any person who has been sentenced by a court-martial (whether under this Act, the M7 Army Act 1955 or the M8 Naval Discipline Act 1957) to detention is subsequently sentenced by a court-martial under this Act to imprisonment, any part of the sentence of detention which has not been served shall thereupon be remitted by virtue of this subsection.]

Textual Amendments

F10 S. 119A inserted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), ss. 40, 78(4)

F11 S. 119A(2A) inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 25, Sch. 3 para. 14; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

Marginal Citations

M7 1955 c. 18.

M8 1957 c. 53.

120 Suspension of sentences. U.K.

(1) The following provisions of this section shall have effect as respects the suspension of a sentence of imprisonment or detention passed by a court-martial on a warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or airman.

(2) [F12 On passing such a sentence, the court] may order that the sentence shall be suspended.

[F13 (3) On the review of a sentence which is not for the time being suspended, the reviewing authority may order that the balance of the sentence be suspended.]

F14 (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F15 (5) Where, while a sentence is suspended under this section, the person sentenced commits a fresh offence and is convicted of that offence by a court-martial, then (unless the balance of the earlier sentence is remitted by virtue of section 119A(3) of this Act) the court may determine the suspension of the sentence by an order committing the person sentenced to imprisonment or detention, as the case may be.

(5A) Subsections (5B) to (5E) apply where a court-martial makes an order under subsection (5).

(5B) The court may direct that the sentence in respect of which the order is made shall begin to run from the end of another term of imprisonment or detention which—

(a) has been passed on the person on a previous occasion; or

(b) the court passes on him on the same occasion.

(5C) In subsection (5B) the reference to another term of imprisonment does not include a term from which the person has been released early under Part 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53) or Chapter 6 of Part 12 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44).

(5D) Subsection (5B) is subject to section 119A of this Act (limitation of total period of sentences of detention).

(5E) For the purposes of sections 113 and 113AA of this Act (review) and subsection (3) above, the order is to be treated as a sentence passed on the offender for the earlier offence.] 

(6) Without prejudice to the further suspension of the earlier sentence, [F16 an order under subsection (5)] shall not be affected by the later sentence F17 . . . being quashed.

(7) Where the sentence of a person in custody is suspended, he shall thereupon be released [F18 and a sentence which has been suspended shall, unless the suspension has been sooner determined, be remitted by virtue of this subsection at the expiry of one year from the date on which the suspension took effect].

[F19 (7A) Subsection (5) does not apply if the person was tried by court-martial for the fresh offence in pursuance of an election for court-martial trial.]

F20 (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F12 Words in s. 120(2) substituted (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 35(1), Sch. 6 para. 4(1)(a); S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F13 S. 120(3) substituted (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 35(1), Sch. 6 para. 4(1)(b); S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F14 S. 120(4) omitted (18.7.2008) by virtue of The Armed Forces (Alignment of Service Discipline Acts) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1694), arts. 1, 24(2)

F15 S. 120(5)-(5E) substituted for s. 120(5) (18.7.2008) by The Armed Forces (Alignment of Service Discipline Acts) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1694), arts. 1, 24(3) (with Sch. paras. 4, 5)

F16 Words in s. 120(6) substituted (18.7.2008) by The Armed Forces (Alignment of Service Discipline Acts) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1694), arts. 1, 24(4)

F17 Words in s. 120(6) repealed (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 35(2), Sch. 7 Pt. II; S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F18 Words added by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), s. 54(2)

F19 S. 120(7A) inserted (15.10.2007) by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), s. 383(2), Sch. 16 para. 25; S.I. 2007/2913, art. 2

F20 Ss. 120(8), 152(3), 153(2) repealed by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), Sch. 4 Pt. II

[F21 120ZA. Activation of suspended sentence: appeals U.K.

(1) Subsections (2) to (4) apply where a court-martial makes an order under section 120(5) of this Act.

(2) For the purposes of the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968 (c. 20) (“the 1968 Act”)—

(a) the order is to be treated as a sentence passed on the offender for the offence for which the sentence was passed;

(b) any appeal, or application for leave to appeal, against the sentence passed in respect of the new offence is to be treated as also being an appeal or application for leave to appeal against the order; and

(c) any appeal, or application for leave to appeal, against the order is to be treated as also being an appeal or application for leave to appeal against the sentence passed in respect of the new offence.

(3) In relation to any appeal against the order, section 16A of the 1968 Act (powers on appeals against sentence) is to be read as conferring power—

(a) to quash the order; or

(b) if the court-martial gave a direction under section 120(5B) of this Act, to quash that direction.

(4) Where the Appeal Court quashes the order, or any direction under section 120(5B) of this Act, then in relation to any appeal against the sentence passed in respect of the new offence—

(a) section 16A of the 1968 Act has effect as if the words “and which is not of greater severity than that for which it is substituted” were omitted; but

(b) the Appeal Court may not exercise its powers under that section in such a way that, taking the case as a whole, the appellant is dealt with more severely on appeal than he was dealt with by the court-martial.

(5) Subsections (6) and (7) apply where a court-martial has power to make an order under section 120(5) of this Act in respect of a sentence (“the suspended sentence”) but does not do so.

(6) On any appeal against the sentence passed in respect of the new offence, the Appeal Court’s power under section 16A of the 1968 Act to pass a sentence in substitution for the sentence of the court-martial includes—

(a) power to make an order under section 120(5) of this Act in respect of the suspended sentence; and

(b) if the court makes such an order, power to give a direction under section 120(5B) of this Act in relation to the order.

(7) But the Appeal Court may not exercise its powers under subsection (6) in such a way that, taking the case as a whole, the appellant is dealt with more severely on appeal than he was dealt with by the court-martial.

(8) In this section—

(a) “the new offence” means the offence mentioned in section 120(5) of this Act; and

(b) “the Appeal Court” means the Courts-Martial Appeal Court.]

Textual Amendments

F21 S. 120ZA inserted (18.7.2008) by The Armed Forces (Alignment of Service Discipline Acts) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1694), arts. 1, 25 (with Sch. paras. 6, 7)

F22 120A Postponement of sentences. U.K.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F22 S. 120A omitted (18.7.2008) by virtue of The Armed Forces (Alignment of Service Discipline Acts) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/1694), arts. 1, 33(3)