The Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009

Charges directed to be tried by a Standing Civilian Court

52.—(1) A charge within paragraph (3) is to be regarded for the purposes of Part 5 of AFA 2006 as allocated for Service Civilian Court trial.

(2) Paragraph (1) has effect subject to any provision of that Part under which, at any time after commencement, the charge ceases to be allocated for Service Civilian Court trial.

(3) A charge is within this paragraph if—

(a)it was preferred or substituted under article 6(1)(b), 13(1)(a) or (c) or 44(1)(a) or (c) of the Standing Civilian Courts Order 1997(1);

(b)no determination under article 13(1)(d) of that Order (charge to be tried by court-martial) has been made in respect of it;

(c)the accused either—

(i)has not elected court-martial trial of the charge and is not treated under article 17 of that Order as having done so; or

(ii)has withdrawn such an election;

(d)the court has not referred the case to the prosecuting authority under paragraph 6 of Schedule 3 to AFA 1976 (unfitness to stand trial and insanity); and

(e)the charge is current at commencement.

(4) For the purposes of this article a charge is “current at commencement” if, at commencement—

(a)the accused has not already been convicted or acquitted of the offence charged;

(b)the charge has not been otherwise disposed of;

(c)proceedings on it have not been stayed;

(d)proceedings on the charge have not been discontinued, and no other charge has been substituted for it;

(e)the charge has not been tried by a Standing Civilian Court without a finding on it being recorded because it was charged as an alternative to another charge which was found proved; and

(f)the time limit for trial by a Standing Civilian Court has not expired.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4)(b) a charge has been “otherwise disposed of” if, under either of the following, the person who was charged could not be tried by the Service Civilian Court in respect of the offence to which the charge related—

(a)article 25 of this Order (double jeopardy);

(b)Chapter 3 of Part 2 of AFA 2006 (double jeopardy) as modified by this Order.