Air Force Act 1955 (repealed)

Supplemental provisionsF37 U.K.

Textual Amendments applied to the whole legislation

F37 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

218 Jurisdiction of courts. U.K.

(1) In the United Kingdom or any colony, a civil court of any description having jurisdiction in the place where an offender is for the time being shall have jurisdiction to try him for any offence to which this section applies which is triable by a court of that description notwithstanding that the offence was committed outside the jurisdiction of the court:

Provided that such an offence committed in any part of the United Kingdom shall not be triable outside that part of the United Kingdom.

(2) The offences to which this section applies are offences against any of the following sections of this Act, that is to say, section nineteen, section one hundred and sixty-one, section one hundred and seventy-one, and sections one hundred and ninety-one to one hundred and ninety-seven; and references in this section to a part of the United Kingdom are references to England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

F1 219 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 219 repealed by Criminal Justice Act 1972 (c. 71), Sch. 6 Pt. II

220 Provisions as to summary fines in Colonies. U.K.

In the application of this Act to any colony, there shall, if the law of the colony so provides, be substituted for the amount of any fine specified in this Act, being a fine which may be imposed on summary conviction, such amount as may be provided by that law; and it shall be competent for the law of any colony to declare what amount of the local currency is to be treated for the purposes of this Act as equivalent to any amount of money specified in this Act.

221 Execution of orders, instruments, etc. U.K.

Save as expressly provided by any rules or regulations under this Act, any order or determination required or authorised to be made under this Act by any air-force, naval or military officer or authority may be signified under the hand of any officer authorised in that behalf; and any instrument signifying such an order or determination and purporting to be signed by an officer stated therein to be so authorised shall unless the contrary is proved be deemed to be signed by an officer so authorised.

222 Provisions as to active service. U.K.

(1) In this Act the expression “on active service”, in relation to a force, means that it is engaged in operations against an enemy or [F2 is engaged elsewhere than in the United Kingdom in operations for the protection of life or property] or (subject to the provisions of this section) is in military occupation of a foreign country, and in relation to a person means that he is serving in or with a force which is on active service.

(2) Where any of Her Majesty’s air forces is serving outside the United Kingdom, and it appears to the appropriate authority that, by reason of the imminence of active service or of the recent existence of active service, it is necessary for the public service that the force should be deemed to be on active service, the appropriate authority may declare that for such period, not exceeding three months, beginning with the coming into force of the declaration as may be specified therein that force shall be deemed to be on active service.

(3) Where it appears to the appropriate authority that it is necessary for the public service that the period specified in a declaration under the last foregoing subsection should be prolonged or, if previously prolonged under this subsection, should be further prolonged, the appropriate authority may declare that the said period shall be prolonged by such time, not exceeding three months, as may be specified in the declaration under this subsection.

(4) If at any time while any force—

(a) is on active service by reason only of being in military occupation of a foreign country; or

(b) is deemed to be on active service by virtue of the foregoing provisions of this section,

it appears to the appropriate authority that there is no necessity for the force to continue to be treated as being on active service, the appropriate authority may declare that as from the coming into operation of the declaration the force shall cease to be, or to be deemed to be, on active service.

(5) Before any declaration is made under this section, the appropriate authority shall, unless satisfied that it is not possible to communicate with sufficient speed with the Secretary of State, obtain the consent of the Secretary of State to the declaration; and in any case where that consent has not been obtained before the making of a declaration under this section the appropriate authority shall report the making thereof to the Secretary of State with the utmost practicable speed.

(6) The Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit, direct that any declaration whereby any force is deemed to be, or to continue, on active service shall cease to have effect as from the coming into force of the direction; but any direction under this subsection shall be without prejudice to anything done by virtue of the declaration before the coming into force of the direction.

(7) A declaration under this section shall have effect not only as respects the members of the force to which it relates but also as respects other persons the application to whom of any provision of this Act depends on whether that force is on active service.

(8) In this section the expression “the appropriate authority” means—

F3 (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) in relation to any force F4 . . . , the air officer commanding the force, so however that where the force is under the command of a flag officer, general officer or brigadier that officer shall be the appropriate authority.

F5 (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(10) Any declaration or direction under this section shall come into operation on being published in general orders.

Textual Amendments

F2 Words substituted by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), s. 20

F3 S. 222(8)(a) repealed by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), ss. 20, 37(3), Sch. 5

F4 Words repealed by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), ss. 20, 37(3), Sch. 5

F5 S. 222(9) repealed by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), ss. 20, 37(3), Sch. 5

223 General provisions as to interpretation. U.K.

(1) In this Act:—

• “acting rank” means rank of any description (however called) such that under Queen’s Regulations a commanding officer has power to order the holder to revert from that rank, and “acting warrant officer” and “acting non-commissioned officer” shall be construed accordingly;

• “active service” shall be construed in accordance with the last foregoing section;

• “aircraft” means any machine for flying, whether propelled by mechanical means or not, and includes any description of balloon;

• “aircraft material” includes

(a) parts of, and components of or accessories for, aircraft, whether for the time being in aircraft or not;

(b) engines, armaments, ammunition and bombs and other missiles of any description in, or for use in, aircraft;

(c) any other gear, apparatus or instruments in, or for use in, aircraft;

(d) any apparatus used in connection with the taking-off or landing of aircraft or for detecting the movement of aircraft; and

(e) any fuel used for the propulsion of aircraft and any material used as a lubricant for aircraft or aircraft material;

• “airman” (except in Parts I and IV of this Act) does not include a warrant officer or a non-commissioned officer;

• “air signal” means any message, signal or indication given, by any means whatsoever, for the guidance of aircraft or a particular aircraft;

• “appropriate superior authority” [F6 means a person who may act as an appropriate superior authority by virtue of] subsection (2) of section eighty-two of this Act;

• F7 . . .

• “before the enemy”, in relation to a person, means that he is in action against the enemy or about to go into action against the enemy, or is under attack or threat of imminent attack by the enemy;

• “civil court” means a court of ordinary criminal jurisdiction but does not, except where otherwise expressly provided, include any such court outside Her Majesty’s dominions;

• “civil offence” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2) of section seventy of this Act;

• “commanding officer” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (1) of section eighty-two of this Act;

• [F8 “Commonwealth force” means any of the naval, military or air forces of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, [F9 South Africa,]India, [F10 Pakistan,]Ceylon, Ghana, Malaysia, the Republic of Cyprus, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanganyika, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Kenya, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, Malta, The Gambia, Guyana, Botswana, Lesotho, Singapore, Barbados, Mauritius, Swaziland, Tonga, Fiji, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Grenada, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Kirbati, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Papua New Guinea, Western Samoa, Nauru, the New Hebrides, Zimbabwe, Belize or Antigua and Barbuda [F11 or Saint Christopher and Nevis][F12 or Brunei or Maldives][F13 or Namibia]]

  “constable” includes any person (whether within or outside the United Kingdom) having powers corresponding with those of a constable;

• “corps” means any such body of the regular air force as may from time to time be declared by order of Her Majesty to be a corps for the purposes of this Act;

• “corresponding civil offence” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2) of section seventy of this Act;

• “corresponding rank”, in relation to any rank or rating of any of Her Majesty’s naval, military or air forces, means such rank or rating of any other of those forces as may be declared by Queen’s Regulations to correspond therewith;

• [F14 “court administration officer” and “the court administration officer” have the meanings assigned to them by section 84A of this Act;]

• “court-martial”, except where it is otherwise expressly provided, means a court-martial under this Act;

• “damage” includes destruction, and references to damaging shall be construed accordingly;

• “decoration” includes medal, medal ribbon, clasp and good-conduct badge;

• “desertion” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2) of section thirty-seven of this Act;

• “enemy” includes all persons engaged in armed operations against any of Her Majesty’s forces [F15 or any forces co-operating therewith], and also includes all armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters and pirates;

• “Governor” means, in relation to any colony, the officer, however styled, who is for the time being administering the government of the colony F16 , but where two or more colonies or the parts of any colony are under local governments and also under a central government, references to the Governor shall be construed as references to the officer, however styled, who is for the time being administering the central government;

• [F17 “handles” has the same meaning as in the M1 Theft Act 1968];

• “Her Majesty’s air forces”, “Her Majesty’s military forces” or “Her Majesty’s naval forces”F18 , except where otherwise expressly provided, does not include any Commonwealth force [F19 and references to “Her Majesty’s forces”, except in sections F20 177, shall be construed accordingly];

• [F21 “the judge advocate”, in relation to a court-martial, has the meaning assigned to it by section 84B(1) of this Act;]

• [F22 “judicial officer” means a person appointed under section 75L of this Act;]

• except where the context otherwise requires “oath” includes affirmation, and references to swearing shall be construed accordingly;

• “property” includes real property in England or Wales or Northern Ireland, heritable property in Scotland, and property outside the United Kingdom of the nature of real property;

• [F23 “the prosecuting authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 83A(1) of this Act;]

• “provost officer” means a provost marshal or officer appointed to exercise the functions conferred by or under this Act on provost officers and includes a naval provost marshal, an assistant to a naval provost marshal, and an officer appointed to exercise functions conferred by or under the M2 Army Act 1955, and corresponding with those of a provost officer under this Act;

• “public property” means any property belonging to any department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom or the Government of Northern Ireland or held for the purposes of any such department;

• “Queen’s Regulations” means the Queen’s Regulations for the Royal Air Force;

• “regular air force” means all of Her Majesty’s air forces other than the air force reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, and other than forces raised under the law of a colony, so however that an officer who is retired within the meaning of any order under section two of the M3 Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917, shall not be treated for the purposes of this Act as a member of the regular air force save in so far as is expressly provided by this Act;

• [F24 “the relevant time” in relation to a person arrested under section 74 of this Act, means the time of the arrest;]

• F25 . . .

• “service”, when used adjectivally, means belonging to or connected with Her Majesty’s air forces or any part of Her Majesty’s air forces;

• [F26 “service l aw” means air-force law, military law or the M4 Naval Discipline Act 1957;]

[F27 “service property” includes property belonging to an association established, or having effect as if established, under section 110 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 or to the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes.]

• “ship” includes any description of vessel;

• [F28 “steals” has the same meaning as in the M5 Theft Act 1968, and references to “stolen goods” shall be construed as if contained in that Act];

• “stoppages” means the recovery, by deductions from the pay of the offender, of a specified sum by way of compensation F29 . . ..

• [F30 “the summary appeal court” means the court established by section 83ZA of this Act;]

[F31 (1A) Any reference in this Act to Her Majesty’s aircraft is a reference to aircraft in the service of Her Majesty, whether belonging to Her Majesty or not, but does not include a reference to aircraft of a Commonwealth force other than aircraft placed at the disposal of Her Majesty for service with any of Her Majesty’s forces, and any reference to aircraft material shall be construed accordingly.

(1B) Any reference in this Act to Her Majesty’s ships is a reference to ships in the service of Her Majesty, whether belonging to Her Majesty or not, but does not include a reference to ships of any Commonwealth force other than ships placed at the disposal of Her Majesty for service with any of Her Majesty’s forces].

[F32 (1C) References in this Act, in relation to any of Her Majesty’s forces, to an officer holding a commission include references to a person to whom a commission is required to be issued; and for the purposes of this Act, where a commission issued to any person takes effect from a date earlier than the date of its issue, that earlier date shall be conclusively presumed to be the date on which the requirement to issue the commission arose.]

[F33 (2) References in this Act to warrant officers, non-commissioned officers or men of the air force reserve being called out on permanent service are references to their being so called out whether in pursuance of [F34 section 10 of the M6 Reserve Forces Act 1980] or not, but in Part I of this Act and subsection (2) of section one hundred and sixty-seven thereof do not include references to their being called out [F35 in pursuance of section 11 of or paragraph 16(4) or (5) or (6) of Schedule 8 to the Reserve Forces Act 1980]]

(3) Any power conferred by this Act to make provision by regulations, rules or other instrument shall include power to make that provision for specified cases or classes of cases, and to make different provision for different classes of cases, and for the purposes of any such instrument classes of cases may be defined by reference to any circumstances specified in the instrument.

(4) Any power conferred by the foregoing provisions of this Act to make an order shall be construed as including power, exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like provisions, to vary or revoke the order.

Textual Amendments

F6 Words in the definition of “appropriate superior authority” substituted (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 5, Sch. 1 Pt. IV para. 84(a); S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F7 S. 223(1): definition of “arrest” repealed (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, ss. 10, 27, Sch. 1 para. 5(2)(a), Sch. 4; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

F8 Definition of “Commonwealth force” printed as amended by enactments listed in Chronological Table of the Statutes, Belize Act 1981 (c. 52), Sch. 2 para. 1 and S.I. 1981/1105, Sch. para. 2(b)

F9 Words in the definition of “Commonwealth force” in s. 223(1) inserted (23.3.1995) by 1995 c. 3, s. 1, Sch. para. 3

F10 Word inserted (retrospectively: 1.10.1989) by Pakistan Act 1990 (c. 14, SIF 26:30), s. 1, Sch. para. 3

F11 Words added by S.I. 1983/882, art. 5, Sch. para. 1

F12 Words added by Brunei and Maldives Act 1985 (c. 3, SIF 26:9A), s. 1, Sch. para. 4

F13 Words in s. 223(1) added (retrospective to 21. 3. 1990) by Namibia Act 1991 (c. 4, SIF 26:25A), s. 1, Sch. para. 2 (with s. 2(2))

F14 Definition of “court administration officer” in s. 223(1) inserted (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 5, Sch. 1 Pt. IV para. 84(b); S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F15 Words inserted by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), s. 28(1)(2)(4)

F16 Words repealed by Zanzibar Act 1963 (c. 55), Sch. 3

F17 Definition inserted by Theft Act 1968 (c. 60), s. 33(2), Sch. 2 Pt. II

F18 Words repealed with saving by Armed Forces Act 1981 (c. 55), Sch. 5 Pt. I

F19 Words added by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), s. 28(1)(2)(4)

F20 Words repealed by Armed Forces Act 1976 (c. 52), Sch. 10

F21 Definition of “the judge advocate” in s. 223(1) inserted (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 5, Sch. 1 Pt. IV para. 84(c); S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F22 S. 223(1): definition of “judicial officer” inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 10, Sch. 1 para. 5(2)(b); S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

F23 Definition of “the prosecuting authority” in s. 223(1) inserted (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, s. 5, Sch. 1 Pt. IV para. 84(c); S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F24 S. 223(1): definition of “the relevant time” inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 10, Sch. 1 para. 5(2)(c); S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

F25 Definition of “Rules of Procedure” in s. 223(1) repealed (1.4.1997) by 1996 c. 46, ss. 5, 35(2), Sch. 1 Pt. IV para. 84(e), Sch. 7 Pt. I; S.I. 1997/304, art. 2 (with art. 3, Sch. 2)

F26 Definition inserted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), s. 78(4), Sch. 1 para. 1(11)

F27 Definition of “service property” in s. 223(1) substituted (1.1.1999) by S.I. 1998/3086, reg. 7

F28 Definition substituted by Theft Act 1968 (c. 60), s. 33(2), Sch. 2 Pt. II

F29 Words in s. 223(1) repealed (1.1.1992) by Armed Forces Act 1991 (c. 62, SIF 7:1), ss. 7(2), 26(2), Sch. 3; S.I. 1991/2719, art. 2, Sch.

F30 S. 223(1): definition of “the summary appeal court” inserted (2.10.2000) by 2000 c. 4, s. 25, Sch. 3 para. 23; S.I. 2000/2366, art. 2 (with transitional provisions in art. 3, Sch. para. 14)

F31 S. 223(1A)(1B) inserted by Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45), s. 27(2)

F32 S. 223(1C) inserted (retrospectively) by Armed Forces Act 1986 (c. 21, SIF 7:1), s. 16(1), Sch. 1 para. 10(1)

F33 S. 223(2) ceases to have effect (1.1.1999) by virtue of S.I. 1998/3086, reg. 9(1)

F34 Words substituted by Reserve Forces Act 1980 (c. 9), s. 157(1), Sch. 9 para. 6(a)

F35 Words substituted by virtue of Reserve Forces Act 1966 (c. 30), Sch. 1 para. 37 and Reserve Forces Act 1980 (c. 9), s. 157(1), Sch. 9 para. 6(b)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 223(2) excluded by Reserve Forces Act 1980 (c. 9), s. 83

Marginal Citations

M1 1968 c. 60.

M2 1955 c. 18.

M3 1917 c. 51.

M4 1957 c. 53.

M5 1968 c. 60.

M6 1980 c. 9.

224 X1 Short title, commencement and duration. U.K.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Air Force Act 1955.

F36 (2)—(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Editorial Information

X1 Unreliable marginal note.

Textual Amendments

F36 S. 224(2)–(5) repealed by Army and Air Force Act 1961 (c. 52), s. 1(5)