The Courts-Martial (Royal Air Force) Rules 2007

PART 1PRELIMINARY

1Citation and commencement

2Interpretation

3Service on an accused

PART 2PROSECUTION OF OFFENCES

4Referring a case to the prosecuting authority

5Withdrawal of election in a multiple charge case

6Formal preliminary examination

7Conduct of formal preliminary examination

8Referring back in a multiple charge case before charges are preferred

10Charges and joinder

11Notifying the accused’s commanding officer

12Notifying the court administration officer

13Notification of proceedings

14Discontinuing proceedings before arraignment

15Description of the court-martial

16Referring back in a multiple charge case after charges already preferred

17Amending charges and additional charges before arraignment

PART 3COURT ADMINISTRATION

18Delegation of the court administration officer’s functions

19Appointment of court officials

20Notification of time and place for hearing of the proceedings

21Ineligibility for membership of courts-martial

PART 4WITNESSES

22Notification of witnesses

23Witness not called by the prosecuting authority

24Issue of witness summons on application to a judge advocate

25Application for witness summons to produce a document, etc: special rules

26Application for witness summons to produce a document, etc: judge advocate’s assessment of relevance and confidentiality

27Power to require advance production

28Issue of witness summons of the judge advocate’s own motion

29Witness summons no longer needed

30Application to withdraw a witness summons

31Issue of witness summons and variation of requirements

32Service of witness summonses

33Procedure for the admission of evidence of bad character

34Procedure for the admission of hearsay evidence

35Additional evidence

PART 6PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS

36Preliminary hearing

37Preliminary hearing in open court

38Preliminary hearing without notice to the accused

39Challenges and oaths at a preliminary hearing

40Substance of a preliminary hearing

PART 7ARRAIGNMENT

44Alternative charges

45Procedure after not guilty plea

46Procedure after guilty plea

47Pleas of guilty and not guilty on one charge sheet

PART 8PROCEEDINGS AT COURT-MARTIAL

48Dispute on facts after plea of guilty

49Change of plea

50Additional charges after arraignment

51Changes to the charge sheet after arraignment

52Changes to the charge sheet by the judge advocate

PART 9GENERAL MATTERS

53Conduct of the defence

54The judge advocate

55The president of the board

56Sittings and adjournments

57Record of proceedings

58Challenges by the accused

59Oaths and affirmations

PART 10PROCEEDINGS AT TRIAL

60Commencement of the trial

61Judge advocate sitting alone

62Opening address

63Additional evidence during trial

64Expert evidence

66Presence of witnesses

67Evidence through live television

68Examination of witnesses

69Submission of no case to answer

70Finding of not guilty before conclusion of the defence

71The case for the defence

72Witnesses for the defence

73Further evidence

74Closing addresses

76Deliberation on finding

77Special finding

78Record of finding

79Offences taken into consideration

PART 11SENTENCING

80Sentencing procedure after guilty plea

81Pre-sentence report and previous convictions

82Evidence before sentencing

83Evidence on behalf of the accused

84Deliberation on sentence

85Postponement of deliberation on sentence

86Announcement of sentence

87Conclusion of the proceedings

PART 12REVIEW OF COURT-MARTIAL FINDING AND SENTENCE

PART 13MISCELLANEOUS

90Appeal to the Courts-Martial Appeal Court

91Application of the rules to civilians

92Bankers’ Books Evidence Act 1879

93Custody of the record

94Circumstances not provided for

95Revocations and transitional proceedings

SCHEDULE 1CHARGES AND JOINDER

1(1) A charge sheet shall be in the form specified...

2More than one incident of the commission of the offence...

3(1) An charge sheet may contain more than one charge...

4The charges must be numbered consecutively

5Where an offence created by or under an enactment states...

6It shall be sufficient in a charge sheet to describe...

7Where the offence charged is one which can be committed...

8Where the offence charged is one which may render the...

SCHEDULE 2FORMS

SCHEDULE 3PRELIMINARY HEARING

SCHEDULE 4OATHS AND AFFIRMATIONS

PART 1MANNER OF ADMINISTERING OATHS AND AFFIRMATIONS

1The person taking the oath shall hold the New Testament,...

2If any person to whom an oath is administered desires...

3If none of the forms of oath provided in this...

4A person making a solemn affirmation instead of taking an...

PART 2FORMS OF OATH

5President of the board and members other than the judge advocate

6Persons under instruction

8Witness aged 18 years or over

9Witness under the age of 18 years

PART 3FORM OF SCOTTISH OATHS

10The form of Scottish oath shall in each case be...

PART 4FORM OF SOLEMN AFFIRMATIONS

11The form of affirmation shall in each case be the...

SCHEDULE 5GUIDANCE FOR PETITIONERS

1The petition should be settled with sufficient particularity to enable...

2The petition should not contain grounds of appeal unless it...

3The petition should not contain any factual inaccuracy.

4Any allegation of fact in the petition should be based...

5The petition should not contain a suggestion that a person...

6Any proposition of law should be supported by references to...

SCHEDULE 6CIVILIANS

PART 1MODIFICATIONS FOR CIVILIANS

PART 2ADDITIONAL RULES FOR CIVILIANS

1Prosecution of civilians

2Accused’s parent or guardian

PART 3APPEALS FROM STANDING CIVILIAN COURTS

3Forwarding an appeal to the prosecuting authority

4Charge sheet on appeal

5Appeal against sentence alone

6Sentencing on appeal

7Appeal by parent or guardian of an accused

8Abandonment of appeal

SCHEDULE 7REVOCATIONS

2007 No. 3444

defence

The Courts-Martial (Royal Air Force) Rules 2007

Made6th December 2007

Laid before Parliament10th December 2007

Coming into force1st January 2008

The Secretary of State makes the following Rules in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by section 103 and 209 of the Air Force Act 19551, and sections 111 and 113 of, and paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to, and sections 132 and 135 of, and paragraph 2(6) of Schedule 7 to, the Criminal Justice Act 20032: