38 Offences in relation to courts-martial.F6U.K.
(1)Every person subject to this Act who—
(a)having been duly summoned or ordered to attend before a court-martial, fails to comply with the summons or order;
(b)refuses to take an oath or make an affirmation when duly required by a court-martial to do so;
(c)refuses to produce any document in his custody or under his control which a court-martial has lawfully required him to produce;
(d)when a witness, refuses to answer any question which a court-martial has lawfully required him to answer;
(e)wilfully insults any person, being a member of a court-martial or a witness or any other person whose duty it is to attend on or before the court, while that person is acting as a member thereof or is so attending, or while that person is going to or returning from the proceedings of the court; or
(f)wilfully interrupts the proceedings of a court-martial, or otherwise misbehaves before the court,
shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or any less punishment authorised by this Act.
(2)References in subsection (1) of this section to a court-martial shall include references to a court-martial held in pursuance of the M1Army Act 1955, or the M2Air Force Act 1955, or the law of any colony and to a disciplinary court.
(3)Where an offence against subsection (1) of this section is committed in relation to a court-martial and the court is of opinion that it is expedient that the offender should be dealt with summarily by the court instead of being brought to trial under this Act, the court may by order under the hand of the president sentence [F1the offender—
(a)if he is an officer, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty-one days, or to a fine not exceeding the amount of his pay for twenty-eight days F2. . .,
(b)in any other case, to imprisonment or detention for such a term as aforesaid, or to such a fine as aforesaid.]
[F3(3A)If the offender has attained seventeen years of age but is under twenty-one years of age, [F4subsection (3)] above shall have effect in relation to him as if the power to impose a sentence of imprisonment were a power to make an order under section 43AA below.]
[F5(3B)For the purposes of subsection (3) above, a day’s pay shall be taken to be–
(a)subject to paragraph (b) below, the gross pay which is, or would apart from any forfeiture be, issuable to the offender in respect of the day on which the order is made;
(b)if the offender is a special member of a reserve force, the gross pay which would have been issuable to him in respect of that day if he had been an ordinary member of that reserve force of the same rank.
(3C)In subsection (3B)(b) above “special member” and “ordinary member” have the same meaning as in the Reserve Forces Act 1996.]
Textual Amendments
F1Words substituted by Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33), ss. 23(3), 78(4)
F2Words in s. 38(3)(a) repealed (1.1.1999) by S.I. 1998/3086, reg. 4(1)(b)
F4Words substituted (retrospectively) by Armed Forces Act 1986 (c. 21, SIF 7:1), s. 16(1), Sch. 1 para. 2
F5S. 38(3B) and (3C) inserted (1.1.1999) by S.I. 1998/3086, reg. 4(3)
Marginal Citations
Textual Amendments applied to the whole legislation
F6Act repealed (prosp.) by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), ss. 378, 383, Sch. 17 and the repeal being partly in force, as to which see individual provisions