Part II Discipline and Trial and Punishment of Air-Force Offences
Courts-martial: general provisions
86 Officers having power to convene courts-martial.
1
A general court-martial may be convened by any qualified officer authorised by Her Majesty by warrant under Her sign manual to convene general courts-martial or that court-martial, F2or by any officer to whom a qualified officer so authorised has delegated his power under the warrant, being an officer under the command of the qualified officer and not below the rank of group captain.
2
A district court-martial may be convened by an officer authorised to convene general courts-martial, by any person, not below the rank of flight lieutenant, under the command of such an officer whom that officer has authorised to convene district courts-martial, by any air officer commanding a body of the air force or by any officer for the time being acting in the place of such an air officer.
3
A field general court-martial may be convened by the officer who directed that the charge should be tried by field general court-martial.
4
F35
In this section the expression “qualified officer” means any officer not below the rank of squadron leader or corresponding rank who—
a
is in command of a body of the regular air force, or
b
is in command of the command within which a body of the regular air force is serving.
6
Any warrant under this section, or any authorisation under this section to convene courts-martial—
a
may be made subject to restrictions, reservations, exceptions or conditions;
b
may be addressed to officers by name or by designation of their offices, and may be issued or given to a named or designated officer, to a named or designated officer and to the person for the time being performing the duties of his office, to a named or designated officer and his successors in that office or to a named or designated officer and such person and successors;
c
may be varied or may be revoked, either wholly or in part, by a subsequent warrant of Her Majesty or, as the case may be, by the officer by whom it was given or his successor in office.
7
Where an officer on board ship—
a
has had power to convene general courts-martial delegated to him by an officer under whose command he was before the departure of the ship, or
b
has been authorised under subsection (2) of this section to convene district courts-martial by such an officer,
he may convene courts-martial to the like extent as if he had continued under the command of the officer delegating the power or granting the authorisation.