The Summary Appeal Court (Air Force) (Amendment) Rules 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Summary Appeal Court (Air Force) Rules 2000 (“the principal Rules”). The principal Rules govern the procedure of the summary appeal court established by section 83ZA of the Air Force Act 1955, as inserted by the Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000, to hear appeals from the Royal Air Force’s system of summary discipline.

Rule 3 corrects a drafting error in rule 2(3) of the principal Rules.

Rule 10 of the principal Rules prescribes the circumstances in which there is to be a hearing of an application. By virtue of rule 9(1) of the principal Rules, this means either an application to extend the period of time for bringing an appeal or an application for leave to bring an appeal out of time. Rule 4 of these Rules amends rule 10 of the principal Rules so that there can be a hearing only in the latter case.

Under section 83ZC(1) of the Air Force Act 1955, an air-force officer is qualified for membership of the court if he has held a commission for at least two years. Under rule 23 of the principal Rules, a naval or military officer who has held a commission for two years is also qualified if not enough qualified “military” (an error for “air-force”) officers are available. Under rule 5 of these Rules, an air-force officer is qualified (despite having held a commission for less than two years) if immediately before receiving his commission he was a warrant officer of higher rank than the appellant; and a naval or military officer who was previously a warrant officer is similarly qualified, subject to the same condition, if not enough qualified air-force personnel are available.

Rule 6 amends rule 24 of the principal Rules so as to extend the circumstances in which an officer is ineligible to sit as a member of the court for the purposes of a particular appeal. It makes him ineligible if he considered the case in the role of higher authority (irrespective of either the procedural route by which it reached him or his decision upon it), or if he serves under the command of an officer who dealt with the case.

Rule 7 makes a warrant officer eligible to be nominated as a reserve member of the court under rule 25 of the principal Rules, if he is qualified for membership of the court.

Rule 8 amends rule 60 of the principal Rules so as to require the prosecuting authority to provide the court with information about the appellant’s rate of pay. Where the original punishment included forfeiture of seniority or reduction in rank, this includes information about how his pay would be affected if the court upheld that punishment or substituted some lesser forfeiture or reduction.

Rule 9 provides for transitional cases.

These Rules do not impose any costs on business.