HC Deb 05 November 1946 vol 428 cc1217-20

The following Question stood upon the Order Paper:

102. Mr. MANNINGHAM-BULLER,

—TO ask the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the names of those appointed to serve on the committee to inquire into the court martial system; and the terms of reference of that committee.

At the end of Questions—

The Secretary of State for War (Mr. Bellenger)

With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and if the House will permit me, I should like to reply to Question 102, referring to the committee of inquiry into the court martial system.

The composition of the committee is as follows:

Chairman: The Hon. Mr. Justice Lewis, O.B.E.;

Members: my hon. and learned Friend the Member for East Leicester (Mr. Donovan);

the hon. and learned Member for Exeter (Mr. Maude);

my hon. Friend the Member for King's Norton (Mr. Blackburn);

the hon. and gallant Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Lieut.-Colonel Thorp);

Sir Theobald Mathew, K.B.E., M.C., Director of Public Prosecutions;

Major-General the Viscount Bridgeman, C.B., D.S.O., M.C.;

a retired senior R.A.F. officer.

The terms of reference are: To bring under review, in the light of the experience gained in the late war and of the composition of the Army and the Royal Air Force, the recommendations of the Army and Air Force Courts-Martial Committee, 1938 (Cmd. 6200) with special reference to the question whether it is desirable to provide any, and if so what, form of appeal from the findings or sentences of courts-martial; to investigate the powers of courts-martial and of commanding officers to award punishment and the nature and scale of such punishment; and to make recommendations upon these and kindred matters.
Earl Winterton

Could the right hon. Gentleman say whether it is intended that this committee, as far as possible—I recognise that it is a matter for the chairman—should sit in public; and will the various Service Departments assist the chairman of the committee by sending him a list of the names of the many distinguished men who, during the war, served in the Judge Advocate's Department, who were not previously officers?

Mr. Bellenger

I am afraid I could not give a specific answer at the moment, but I will bear those two points in mind. Of course, I shall have to consult the chairman of the committee.

Mr. Hector Hughes

Could the Secretary of State say whether it is intended that the committee should take into account any existing sentences, with a view to reconsidering them?

Hon. Members

No.

Mr. Bellenger

I think that had better be left to the committee.

Mr. Eden

I should like to be clear about this, because it raises an important new issue. As I understand it, the committee's task is as outlined by the right hon. Gentleman, a task which has the approval of the House, but there is nothing in that about dealing with the revision of existing sentences.

Mr. Bellenger

No, Sir, but I would remind the right hon. Gentleman that the Oliver Committee, which sat in 1938, and to whose report I referred in my statement, did consider certain court-martial cases that had taken place, and I think that the present committee would be willing to consider any cases that were brought to their attention. Obviously, they cannot revise them now.

Mr. H. D. Hughes

Whether or not the committee sits in public, can we have an assurance that their report will be made public?

Mr. Bellenger

Yes, Sir.

Air-Commodore Harvey

Could the right hon. Gentleman give us the name of the retired Royal Air Force officer?

Mr. Bellenger

No, Sir, not at the moment. My right hon. Friend had an officer in view, but he is unable to accept the invitation, and we are now engaged in trying to find an officer.

Mr. Janner

Could the right hon. Gentleman say whether the terms of reference are sufficiently wide to include the question of the release of men from detention between the time of trial and the time of appeal?

Mr. Bellenger

I should not like to say off hand, but I think the House will agree that the terms of reference have been very widely drawn.

Major Legge-Bourke

Would the right hon. Gentleman say why, in view of the fact that this committee was originally appointed to deal with court-martial procedure, he has now decided to widen the field to include the summary powers of commanding officers?

Mr. Bellenger

Yes, Sir. I thought—and so did my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air—that this would be the appropriate moment to investigate these things.

Earl Winterton

In view of some of the right hon. Gentleman's answers, would he make it clear that, in accordance with precedent, it is for the chairman of the committee to interpret the terms of reference, and not for any Minister to give directions to the committee?

Mr. Bellenger

I think that that is an interpretation which I am not able to give at the moment. Obviously, if that is the case, then the chairman will interpret those terms of reference.

Mr. Wyatt

As this matter is a very urgent one, can the right hon. Gentleman say whether he has asked the committee to report by any particular time?

Mr. Bellenger

No, Sir. I do not think it would be wise to do that. All these gentlemen serving on the committee, including the learned judge, are very busy men, and we must leave it to them.

Mr. Walkden

Has the right hon. Gentleman paid particular attention, in sending out the invitations, to the circumstances surrounding the ranker, or the particular experience, as a ranker, of any individual who is to serve on the committee?

Mr. Bellenger

I think that if my hon. Friend will examine the names of the committee, he will find that some of them, at any rate, have other rank experience.