Naval Discipline Act 1957

Interpretation

132Definitions of Her Majesty's ships, forces, etc.

(1)In this Act "Her Majesty's ships" means commissioned ships flying the white ensign, and " Her Majesty's vessels " means ships and vessels, other than Her Majesty's ships, engaged in the naval service of Her Majesty, whether belonging to Her Majesty or not; but " Her Majesty's ships " and " Her Majesty's vessels " do not include ships or vessels of a Commonwealth country or maintained by a colony, other than ships or vessels placed at the disposal of the Admiralty or placed at the disposal of Her Majesty for general service in the Royal Navy.

(2)In this Act " Her Majesty's naval establishments " means establishments belonging to or under the control of the Admiralty, whether within or without Her Majesty's dominions.

(3)Where persons subject to this Act are appointed or drafted to one of Her Majesty's ships or naval establishments for duty in any or any other of Her Majesty's ships, vessels or naval establishments, those persons shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as belonging to the ship or establishment to which they are appointed or drafted.

(4)In this Act " Her Majesty's aircraft" means aircraft in the service of Her Majesty, whether belonging to Her Majesty or not, but does not include aircraft belonging to a Commonwealth country or to any colony other than aircraft placed at the disposal of the Admiralty or placed at the disposal of Her Majesty for general service in the Royal Navy

(5)In this Act " Her Majesty's naval forces " means the Royal Navy, the naval reserve forces (as defined by this section) and such of the marine forces, and of the naval forces of a Commonwealth country or raised under the law of any colony, as are for the time being subject to this Act.

(6)In this Act " Her Majesty's military forces " and " Her Majesty's air forces " include forces raised under the law of a colony but do not include the forces of any Commonwealth country.

(7)In this Act " the marine forces " means the Royal Marines, the Royal Marine Forces Volunteer Reserve, the Royal Fleet Reserve so far as it consists of non-commissioned officers and marines, the Royal Marine Emergency Reserve, and the Royal Naval Special Reserve so far as it consists of persons entered for service in the Royal Marines.

(8)In this Act " naval reserve forces " means the Royal Naval Reserve (including officers of reserve to the Royal Navy and including the Royal Fleet Reserve except so far as it consists of non-commissioned officers and marines), the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Royal Naval Volunteer (Supplementary) Reserve, the Royal Naval Emergency Reserve and the Royal Naval Special Reserve except so far as it consists of persons entered for service in the Royal Marines.

133Definitions of officer, rating and superior officer

(1)In this Act " officer ", in relation to any of Her Majesty's naval forces, means a person of or above the rank of cadet, and in relation to any other forces means an officer of rank corresponding to the said rank or any superior rank.

(2)In this Act " rating " means a member of Her Majesty's naval forces of or below the rate of chief petty officer; and any reference in this Act to a rating, or to a rating of any particular rate, shall include a reference to a warrant officer, non-commissioned officer, marine, soldier or airman who is subject to this Act, or to any such warrant officer or non-commissioned officer of rank corresponding with that rate, as the case may be.

(3)In this Act " superior officer ", in relation to any person means an officer or a rating not below the rate of petty officer, who is of rank or rate higher than that person, or senior to that person in the same rank or rate.

(4)Any reference in this Act to a specific rank or rate in Her Majesty's naval forces includes a reference to any other rank or rate in those forces which is equivalent to that rank or rate.

(5)In this Act " corresponding rank " in relation to any rank or rate in any of Her Majesty's naval, military or air forces, means such rank or rate in any other of those forces as may be declared by Queen's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions for the time being in force to correspond therewith,

134Definition of active service

For the purposes of this Act a force shall be deemed to be on active service when engaged in operations against an enemy, when situated in an area in which such operations are taking place, or when landed in any foreign country for the protection of life or property, and a person shall be deemed to be on active service when serving in or with a force which is on active service.

135General Interpretation

(1)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:—

• " aircraft " means any machine for flying, whether propelled by mechanical means or not, and includes any description of balloon;

• " aircraft material " includes—

  (a)

  parts of, and components of or accessories for, aircraft, whether for the time being in aircraft or not;

  (b)

  engines, armaments, ammunition and bombs and other missiles of any description in, or for use in, aircraft;

  (c)

  any other gear, apparatus or instruments in, or for use in, aircraft;

  (d)

  any apparatus used in connection with the taking-off or landing of aircraft or for detecting the movement of aircraft; and

  (e)

  any fuel used for the propulsion of aircraft and any material used as a lubricant for aircraft or aircraft material;

• " aircraft papers " has the meaning assigned to it by the Naval Prize Act, 1864 ;

• " civil court " means a court of ordinary criminal jurisdiction but does not, except where otherwise expressly provided, include any such court outside Her Majesty's dominions;

• " civil prison " means a prison in which a person sentenced by a civil court to imprisonment can be confined ;

• " committal order " means an order committing a person sentenced under this Act to imprisonment or detention to any establishment in which, by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of section eighty-one of this Act, he may be confined during the term of the sentence:

• " Commonwealth country " means Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, India, Pakistan, Ceylon or Ghana ;

• " constable " includes any person having powers corresponding with those of a constable ;

• " court-martial " means a court-martial under this Act;

• " decoration " includes medal, medal ribbon, clasp and good conduct badge;

• " desertion " has the meaning assigned to it by section fifteen of this Act, and " desert" shall be construed accordingly;

• " enemy " includes all persons engaged in armed operations against Her Majesty's forces, and also includes all armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters and pirates;

• " Governor ", in relation to any colony, means the Governor-General, Governor or other officer, however styled, who is for the time being administering the government of the colony and includes the British Resident, Zanzibar, but where two or more colonies or the parts of any colony are under local governments and also under a central government, references to the Governor shall be construed as references to the Governor-General, Governor or other officer, however styled, who is for the time being administering the central government;

• " mutiny " has the meaning assigned to it by section eight of this Act;

• " naval detention quarters " means premises or vessels, or parts of premises or vessels, set apart by the Admiralty under subsection (1) of section eighty-two of this Act;

• " prize court " means a prize court within the meaning of the Naval Prize Act, 1864 ;

• " property " includes real property in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, heritable property in Scotland and property outside the United Kingdom of the nature of real property;

• " provost officer " means a naval provost marshal, an assistant to a naval provost marshal and any other officer being a provost officer within the meaning of the Army Act, 1955, or the Air Force Act, 1955 ;

• " public or service property " means property belonging to any department of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom or of the Government of Northern Ireland, or held for the purposes of any such department, and property belonging to or connected with Her Majesty's naval forces, the naval forces of any Commonwealth country or naval forces raised under the law of any colony, or any part of any of those forces;

• " service law " has the meaning assigned by section eight of this Act;

• " ship papers " has the meaning assigned to it by the Naval Prize Act, 1864;

• " steals " has the same meaning as in the Larceny Act, 1916;

(2)Any reference in this Act to an offence under Part I thereof includes a reference to a civil offence punishable on conviction thereunder by virtue of section forty-two of this Act.

(3)Any reference in this Act to an enactment is a reference thereto as amended by or under any subsequent enactment.

(4)Any power conferred by this Act to make an Order in Council or order shall include power to vary or revoke the Order in Council or order by a subsequent Order in Council or order.

(5)Any Order in Council, order or regulations made under this Act may make different provision for different circumstances or cases, or may make provision for particular circumstances or cases only.