1. These General Orders may be cited as the Navy Courts-Martial General Orders (Royal Navy) 1991 and shall come into force on 1st January 1992, but nothing therein (other than Orders 67 and 75(2)) shall apply in relation to proceedings commenced before that date.
2. In these General Orders any reference to an Order is, except where the context otherwise requires, a reference to a General Order contained therein and the following expressions have the meanings respectively assigned to them–
“accused’s friend” has the meaning given by Order 14;
“the Act” means the Naval Discipline Act 1957;
“child” means a person under the age of 14 years;
“circumstantial letter” means letter outlining the prosecution case drafted underOrder 4;
“civilian counsel” has the meaning given by Order 72;
“closed court” means proceedings of the court conducted for the time being in the presence only of the president, members of the court, judge advocate and clerk of the court;
“commanding officer” means the commanding officer of the ship or establishment in which the accused is for the time being serving;
“convening authority” means an officer authorised to order a court-martial in accordance with the provisions of section 53 of the Act(1) or, where a court-martial is ordered by the Defence Council, the Defence Council;
“court” means a court-martial ordered under the Act;
“member” when used in relation to a court-martial does not include the president;
“open court” means proceedings of the court conducted in the presence of all parties and any members of the public present;
“special finding” means when used in relation to–
section 67 or 68 of the Act, any finding which a court-martial may make in accordance with that section;
a finding in accordance with section 63 of the Act(2), that the accused is not guilty by reason of insanity;
“young person” means a person who has attained the age of 14 years and is under the age of 17 years.
Section 53 was amended by S.I. 1964/488, article 2(1) and Schedule 1, Part I and by the Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), section 48(3).
Section 63 was amended by S.I. 1964/488, article 2(1) and Schedule 1, Part I and by the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 (c. 84), sections 7 and 8, Schedule 2, Part II.