Defence (Amendment) Act 2007

Amendment of section 192 of Principal Act (jurisdiction of courts-martial).

42.— Section 192 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for subsection (1):

“(1) Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a general court-martial, limited court-martial or summary court-martial shall, in addition to any other powers conferred on it by this Act, have jurisdiction to try and punish any person for an offence against military law committed by the person while subject to military law as an officer or as a man.”,

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) In this section ‘ relevant offence ’ means—

(a) the offence of treason or murder, or

(b) an offence under section 3 , as amended, of the Geneva Conventions Act 1962 or an offence under section 7 (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes) or 8 (ancillary offences) of the International Criminal Court Act 2006 , or

(c) manslaughter, rape, rape under section 4 (within the meaning of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 ) or aggravated sexual assault (within the meaning of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 ), or

(d) an offence under the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention against Torture) Act 2000 , or

(e) an offence under the Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Act 2000 , or

(f) an offence under the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 .

(1B) A summary court-martial shall not have jurisdiction—

(a) to try any person who is for the time being an officer holding the army rank of lieutenant colonel or the equivalent naval rank or higher commissioned rank,

(b) to try any person for a relevant offence,

(c) to award to any person any sentence greater than imprisonment for a term of six months, or

(d) in the case of an appeal under section 178E, to award any punishment greater than that awardable on summary disposal of the matter under section 177C or 178C, as appropriate.”,

(c) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) A limited court-martial shall not have jurisdiction—

(a) to try any person for any offence against military law committed by the person while subject to military law as an officer,

(b) to try any person who is for the time being an officer or a man of the army rank of battalion quarter-master sergeant or the equivalent naval rank or of any higher non-commissioned rank,

(c) to try any person for a relevant offence, or

(d) to award to any person any sentence greater than imprisonment for a term of two years.”,

(d) by substituting the following for subsection (3):

“(3) Subject to subsection (3A) of this section, a general court-martial shall not have jurisdiction to try any person subject to military law for a relevant offence unless the offence was committed while the person was on active service or while the person was despatched for service outside the State for any purpose specified in section 3 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 .”,

(e) by inserting the following after subsection (3):

“(3A) In the case of rape, rape under section 4 (within the meaning of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 ) or aggravated sexual assault (within the meaning of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 ), where the offence was committed by a person subject to military law who was neither on active service nor despatched for service outside the State for any purpose specified in section 3 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 when the offence was committed, a general court-martial may try any person subject to military law on a charge of having committed that offence where—

(a) the person in respect of whom the offence was committed is, or was when the offence was committed, subject to military law, and has consented in writing to the trial of the offence by court-martial, and

(b) the Director of Public Prosecutions has given his prior consent.”,

and

(f) in subsection (4)(b), by substituting “the Director certifying that as respects the trial of a civil offence” for “the officer convening a court-martial for the trial of a civil offence certifying that as respects such trial”.