Air Force Act 1955

Trial of persons ceasing to be subject to air-force law and time limits for trials

131 Trial and punishment of offences under this Act notwithstanding offender ceasing to be subject to air-force law

(1) Subject to the provisions of the next following section, where an offence under this Act triable by court-martial has been committed, or is reasonably suspected of having been committed, by any person while subject to air-force law, then in relation to that offence he shall be treated, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to arrest, keeping in custody, investigation of charges, trial and punishment by court-martial (including confirmation, review, reconsideration and suspension) and execution of sentences as continuing subject to air-force law notwithstanding his ceasing at any time to be subject thereto.

(2) Where, while a person is in air-force or military custody by virtue of this section (whether before, during or after trial) he commits, or is reasonably suspected of having committed, an offence which if he were subject to air-force law would be an offence under this Act triable by court-martial, then in relation to that offence or suspected offence he shall be treated, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act mentioned in the last foregoing subsection and the provisions thereof as to the summary dealing with charges, as having been subject to air-force law when the offence was committed or is suspected of having been committed and as continuing subject to air-force law thereafter.

(3) Where by virtue of either of the two last foregoing subsections a person is treated as being at any time subject to air-force law for the purpose of any provision of this Act, that provision shall apply to him—

(a) if he holds any air-force rank, as to a person having that rank;

(b) if he holds any naval or military rank or rating, as to a person having the corresponding air-force rank;

(c) otherwise as to a person having the rank which he had when last actually subject to air-force law :

Provided that as respects any time after he has been sentenced for the offence in question and the sentence has been confirmed the said provision shall apply to him (in any case) as to an airman.

(4) Where apart from this subsection any provision of this Act would under the last foregoing subsection apply to a person, in relation to different offences, as to a person having different ranks, it shall apply to him as to a person having the lower or lowest of those ranks.

132 Limitation of time for trial of offences under this Act

(1) No person shall be tried by court-martial for any offence, other than one against section thirty-one or thirty-two of this Act or desertion, unless the trial is begun within three years after the commission of the offence, there being disregarded any time during which he was a prisoner of war and any time during which he was illegally absent:

Provided that—

(a) in the case of an offence against section seventy of this Act where proceedings for the corresponding civil offence must, by virtue of any enactment, be brought within a limited time, that limit of time shall apply to the trial of the offence under the said section seventy in substitution for the foregoing provisions of this subsection",

(b) subject to any such limit of time as is mentioned in the last foregoing paragraph, a person may be tried by court-martial for a civil offence committed outside the United Kingdom notwithstanding that it was committed more than three years before the beginning of the trial, if the Attorney General consents to the trial.

(2) Where a person who has committed an offence of desertion, other than desertion on active service, has since the offence served as a member of the regular air force continuously in an exemplary manner for not less than three years, he shall not be tried for that offence.

(3) A person shall not be triable by virtue of subsection (1) of the last foregoing section unless his trial is begun within three months after he ceases to be subject to air-force law, or the trial is for a civil offence committed outside the United Kingdom and the Attorney General consents to the trial:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to an offence against section thirty-one or thirty-two of this Act or desertion.

(4) A person shall not be arrested or kept in custody by virtue of subsection (1) of the last foregoing section for an offence at any time after he has ceased to be triable for the offence.