General right of appeal in respect of rulings
4.—(1) This article applies where a judge advocate makes a ruling in relation to a trial by court-martial at an applicable time and the ruling relates to one or more charges on the charge sheet.
(2) The prosecution may appeal in respect of the ruling in accordance with this article.
(3) The ruling is to have no effect whilst the prosecution is able to take any steps under paragraph (4).
(4) The prosecution may not appeal in respect of the ruling unless—
(a)following the making of the ruling, it—
(i)informs the court that it intends to appeal, or
(ii)requests an adjournment to consider whether to appeal, and
(b)if such an adjournment is granted, it informs the court following the adjournment that it intends to appeal.
(5) If the prosecution requests an adjournment under paragraph (4)(a)(ii), the judge advocate may grant such an adjournment.
(6) Where the ruling relates to two or more charges—
(a)any one or more of those charges may be the subject of the appeal, and
(b)if the prosecution informs the court in accordance with paragraph (4) that it intends to appeal, it must at the same time inform the court of the charge or charges which are the subject of the appeal.
(7) Where—
(a)the ruling is a ruling that there is no case to answer, and
(b)the prosecution, at the same time that it informs the court in accordance with paragraph (4) that it intends to appeal, nominates one or more other rulings which have been made by a judge advocate in relation to the court-martial at an applicable time and which relate to the charge or charges which are the subject of the appeal,
that other ruling, or those other rulings, are also to be treated as the subject of the appeal.
(8) The prosecution may not inform the court in accordance with paragraph (4) that it intends to appeal, unless, at or before that time, it informs the court that it agrees that, in respect of the charge or each charge which is the subject of the appeal, the accused in relation to that charge should be acquitted of that charge if either of the conditions mentioned in paragraph (9) is fulfilled.
(9) Those conditions are—
(a)that leave to appeal to the Courts-Martial Appeal Court is not obtained, and
(b)that the appeal is abandoned before it is determined by the Courts-Martial Appeal Court.
(10) If the prosecution informs the court in accordance with paragraph (4) that it intends to appeal, the ruling mentioned in paragraph (1) is to continue to have no effect in relation to the charge or charges which are the subject of the appeal whilst the appeal is pursued.
(11) If and to the extent that a ruling has no effect in accordance with this article—
(a)any consequences of the ruling are also to have no effect,
(b)the judge advocate may not take any steps in consequence of the ruling, and
(c)if he does so, any such steps are also to have no effect.
(12) Where the prosecution has informed the court of its agreement under paragraph (8) and either of the conditions mentioned in paragraph (9) is fulfilled, the judge advocate or the Courts-Martial Appeal Court must order that the accused in relation to the charge or each charge concerned be acquitted of that charge.
(13) In this article “applicable time”, in relation to a trial by court-martial, means any time (whether before or after the commencement of the trial) before the time when the judge advocate starts his summing-up to the court.