Armed Forces Act 2006

Urgent removal from other places to overseas service hospital

9 (1) This paragraph applies if a service policeman finds a person (“the patient”) in a relevant place outside the British Islands and it appears to the service policeman that—

(a) the patient is a person subject to service law or a civilian subject to service discipline;

(b) the patient is suffering from mental disorder; and

(c) the urgent need to remove the patient to and detain him in a service hospital makes it impracticable for an order under paragraph 2(3) to be sought before removing and detaining him.

(2) The service policeman may remove the patient to an overseas service hospital.

(3) The commanding officer of the service hospital to which the patient is removed may detain him at the service hospital for the purpose of enabling an order under paragraph 2(3) to be sought in relation to him.

(4) But the patient may not be detained under this paragraph beyond—

(a) the end of the detention period (see sub-paragraphs (5) and (6)); or

(b) if sooner, the making of a determination whether or not to make such an order in relation to him.

(5) The detention period is—

(a) 6 hours beginning with his arrival at the service hospital; or

(b) if before the end of that 6 hour period a registered medical practitioner determines that all the relevant conditions are met in the case of the patient, 24 hours beginning with that time.

(6) But if during that 6 hour period a registered medical practitioner determines that one or more of the relevant conditions are not met in the case of the patient—

(a) the patient must be released immediately; and

(b) the detention period ends with his release.

(7) The person making a determination under sub-paragraph (5)(b) must, as soon as practicable, make a record of the determination and the reasons for it.

(8) In this paragraph “relevant place” means—

(a) a place to which the public have access; or

(b) any premises (within the meaning of Part 3) which are permanently or temporarily occupied or controlled for the purposes of any of Her Majesty’s forces but are not service living accommodation.