Legal background
- AFA 2006 contains nearly all the provisions for the existence of a system for the armed forces of command, discipline and justice. Sections 1 to 13 and the Schedule insert new provisions into AFA 2006. The relevant provisions of AFA 2006 are:
- in relation to the continuation of AFA 2006 (section 1 of the Act), section 382
- in relation to the requirement for members of the armed forces and civilians subject to service discipline to co-operate with preliminary tests for alcohol and drugs (section 2 of the Act), sections 93A to 93I
- in relation to the investigation, charging and mode of trial of offences under AFA 2006 (sections 3 to 5 of the Act), sections 113 to 128
- in relation to the period for which a sentence of service detention may be suspended by the Court Martial (section 6 of the Act), section 190
- in relation to AFA 2006 and the Isle of Man and British overseas territories (section 13 of the Act), section 384.
- Section 14 amends sections 146 and 147 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 by removing wording which provides that those sections do not prevent a homosexual act from being a ground for discharging a member of the armed forces.
- Section 15 amends section 25 of the Social Security Act 1989, which provides for the establishment and functions of war pensions committees.
- Section 16 makes free-standing provision to give Ministry of Defence fire-fighters statutory powers to act in an emergency to protect life or property. Ministry of Defence fire-fighters are not created by statute: they are employed by or on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence, or a government contractor providing services to the Secretary of State for Defence, or are members of the armed forces. Section 16 also amends sections 1 and 7 of the Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006, extending the offences under sections 1 and 2 of that Act so that they cover obstructing or hindering a Ministry of Defence fire-fighter responding to an emergency in the United Kingdom, or a person assisting such a fire-fighter.
- Section 17 amends enactments to give Ministry of Defence fire-fighters exemptions from provisions in those enactments. The relevant provisions in those enactments are:
- section 102(4) of the Transport Act 1968 (exemption for fire brigades, etc to rules on drivers’ hours)
- section 15(7)(a)(i) of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1974 (exception for fire and rescue vehicles to offence of parking on footways, etc)
- section 62(2)(a) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (exception for fire brigades, etc to prohibition on use of loud-speakers in streets)
- section 135(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (restrictions on transfer of oil at night).