PART 18DISCIPLINE: MISCELLANEOUS

Witness anonymity orders179

1

In section 6(1) of the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Act 200846 (discharge or variation of witness anonymity order), the reference to a court that has made a witness anonymity order in relation to any criminal proceedings is to be read—

a

in relation to an order made by a court-martial, as a reference to the Court Martial;

b

in relation to an order made by a Standing Civilian Court, as a reference to the Service Civilian Court; and

c

in relation to an order made by a summary appeal court, as a reference to the Summary Appeal Court.

2

Section 311 of AFA 2006 (certification of contempt to civil courts) applies if, in relation to a witness anonymity order made by a court-martial, a Standing Civilian Court or a summary appeal court, a person within section 309(6) of that Act does any act that would constitute contempt of court if the order had been made by a court having power to commit for contempt.

3

Where section 311 of AFA 2006 applies by virtue of paragraph (2) above—

a

in subsection (2) of that section, “the qualifying service court” means—

i

if the order was made by a court-martial, the Court Martial,

ii

if the order was made by a Standing Civilian Court, the Service Civilian Court, and

iii

if the order was made by a summary appeal court, the Summary Appeal Court,

and the definition of “qualifying service court” in subsection (5) of that section applies only for the purposes of subsection (4);

b

in that section, “the offence” means the act mentioned in paragraph (2) above.

4

In this article—

  • “act” includes an omission, and references to the doing of an act are to be read accordingly;

  • “witness anonymity order” has the same meaning as in the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Act 2008.