PART 1PRELIMINARY

Citation and commencement1

These Rules may be cited as the Armed Forces (Service Civilian Court) Rules 2009 and shall come into force on 31st October 2009.

Interpretation: proceedings and parties2

1

Unless otherwise stated, any reference in these Rules to proceedings is to—

a

preliminary proceedings,

b

trial proceedings,

c

sentencing proceedings, and

d

ancillary proceedings,

and does not include the exercise of any power of the court otherwise than at a hearing.

2

In these Rules—

  • “activation order” means—

    1. a

      an order under paragraph 8(2)(a) or (b) of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act (activation of suspended sentence of imprisonment); or

    2. b

      an order under section 214(3) (reactivation of detention and training order);

  • “activation proceedings” means proceedings for the making of an activation order, but does not include sentencing proceedings in which the court has power to make such an order;

  • “ancillary proceedings” means proceedings under any provision of Part 15;

  • “community order proceedings” means any proceedings under Chapter 1 of Part 15;

  • “preliminary proceedings” means any proceedings of the court held for the purpose of—

    1. a

      the court making its decision in accordance with section 279 (consideration of trial by Court Martial);

    2. b

      allowing the defendant to exercise his right to elect trial by the Court Martial;

    3. c

      arraigning a defendant on a charge to be tried in the trial proceedings; or

    4. d

      giving directions, orders or rulings for the purpose of the trial proceedings;

  • “related proceedings”, in relation to preliminary proceedings, means—

    1. a

      trial proceedings in respect of any charge to which the preliminary proceedings relate;

    2. b

      any further preliminary proceedings in relation to such trial proceedings; and

    3. c

      any sentencing proceedings in respect of any offence found proved in such trial proceedings, or as respects which the offender pleads guilty in the preliminary proceedings or related proceedings;

  • “sentencing proceedings” means proceedings for the sentencing of a person convicted by the court on a plea of guilty or in trial proceedings;

  • “trial proceedings” means proceedings for the trial of a charge by the court, and does not include sentencing proceedings.

3

References in these Rules to a party to any proceedings are to—

a

a person to whom the proceedings relate;

b

the Director; and

c

where the proceedings are for the hearing of an application (and the applicant is not a person to whom the proceedings relate), the applicant.

4

References in these Rules to a person to whom proceedings relate are to—

a

in the case of preliminary or trial proceedings, a defendant;

b

in the case of sentencing proceedings, an offender who falls to be sentenced in the proceedings;

c

in the case of activation proceedings, the offender in respect of whom the court has power to make an activation order in the proceedings;

d

in the case of community order proceedings, the offender in respect of whom the overseas community order was made;

e

in the case of a hearing of any other application (other than community order proceedings), the applicant;

f

in the case of a hearing under rule 108 (certification of contempt of court), the person whose offence the court is to consider certifying.

5

In these Rules—

  • “defendant” means a person against whom a charge allocated for Service Civilian Court trial has been brought;

  • “the Director” means the Director of Service Prosecutions.

Interpretation: general3

1

Any reference in these Rules to a numbered section is to that section of the Act unless otherwise stated.

2

In these Rules—

  • “the Act” means the Armed Forces Act 2006;

  • “the 1967 Act” means the Criminal Justice Act 19673;

  • “the 1999 Act” means the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 19994;

  • “the 2003 Act” means the Criminal Justice Act 2003;

  • “the CPIA Order” means the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (Application to the Armed Forces) Order 20095;

  • “advance information” has the meaning given by rule 30(2);

  • “bad character” has the meaning given by section 98 of the 2003 Act;

  • “civilian police force” means a UK police force or a British overseas territory police force;

  • “the court” means the Service Civilian Court;

  • “DX” means document exchange;

  • “detention and training order” means an order under section 211;

  • “the judge advocate”, in relation to any proceedings, means the judge advocate specified for the proceedings under section 278(2);

  • “legal representative” means a person appointed by a party to proceedings under rule 26;

  • “live link”, has the meaning given by rule 18(3)(a);

  • “pre-sentence report” has the meaning given by section 257; and

  • “unit” means—

    1. a

      a naval ship or establishment;

    2. b

      any body of members of Her Majesty’s forces formed under the command of a person appointed to be the commanding officer of the body; or

    3. c

      an air force station.

3

Any reference in these Rules to Schedule 8 to the 2003 Act is to that Schedule as modified by Schedule 5 to the Act.