Clause 19.—(DUTIES OF REGISTRAR WITH RESPECT TO APPEALS, &C.) (Hansard, 30 April 1951)

§ Mr. Manningham-Buller
I beg to move, in page 12, line 26, to leave out subsection (2).
I do so for the purpose of obtaining an explanation from the Financial Secretary for which I asked on the Committee stage. The House will appreciate that the whole operation of this Bill depends upon subsection (2) of Clause 19 which is intended to secure that all persons likely to be affected will have notice of their rights under this Bill.
It appears to us to be extremely important that every possible step should be taken to acquaint persons charged with offences for which they will come before courts-martial with their rights of appeal under the Bill. I asked for a statement about that during the Committee stage. The Parliamentary Secretary has sent me a very long letter, for which I thank him, explaining exactly what is proposed to be done, but I feel that the matter is of such importance that it is desirable that that statement should be placed on record and made public, and I move the Amendment with the object of affording him an opportunity of doing so.
At the same time, as this is my only opportunity for speaking, I would say that I am sure that his experience of Army Council Instructions is that it is very easy to issue them but not so easy to get them digested by those to whom they are intended to apply and I hope he will see that steps are taken not only immediately after the Bill comes into operation but from time to time to make sure that persons who are accused are acquainted with their rights of appeal under this Measure.

§ Mr. Gage
I beg to second the Amendment.

§ Mr. Janner (Leicester, North-West)
I endorse what has been said by the hon. 951 and learned Member for Northants, South (Mr. Manningham-Buller), on this point. One finds in experience that it is not only a question of rights being available; it is highly important that the people concerned should know that those rights are available and exactly what steps they are entitled to take. The Clause says quite clearly that: The registrar shall furnish the necessary forms and instructions relating to applications for leave to appeal under this Part of this Act to any person who demands them. … It should be made clear not only that the forms should be supplied to persons who demand them but that an instruction should be given that when a person has been convicted or sentenced he should be made acquainted with the fact that he is entitled to appeal, the method by which he is entitled to appeal and what steps he should take in order to exercise that right should he want to do so. That is rather different from what is contained in the Clause.
From time to time I have mentioned something which is somewhat parallel to this and I am sure the House will forgive me if I repeat that we have on the Statute Book today a large number of statutes which are not understood by the average man in the street and I am sure the House will not misunderstand me if I refer in particular to the Rent Restriction Acts whereby——

§ Mr. Deputy-Speaker
The House cannot discuss them now.

§ Mr. Janner
Just by way of illustration, I wanted to point out that there are other Measures apart from this one which offer a considerable amount of facility and relief to individuals which individuals do not understand and because they do not know that these things are available they do not exercise them. I ask my right hon. and learned Friend to be good enough to give the assurance and particulars requested by the hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Northants. South.

§ Mr. Michael Stewart
It is true, as the hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Northants, South (Mr. Manningham-Buller), and my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, North-West (Mr. Janner), have said, that the efficacy of the Bill depends on the men in the Forces knowing what their rights are under the Bill. 952 The hon. and learned Gentleman will agree that the process of informing them begins with an Army Council Instruction and an Air Ministry Order, although it does not end there. Our first step, therefore, will be to issue such an instruction—in the case of the Air Ministry such an order—describing what now is the right, first of petition and then of appeal, under this Bill. We shall see that that instruction and order are periodically reproduced in unit notices until they become part of the general knowledge of the Forces.
Although, as my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, North-West, has suggested, there are a number of Acts as to the nature of which the public is unaware, I think it probable that by the time we have passed this Bill into law we shall have created sufficient interest in it in the Forces to see that, when we follow it up by the periodic reproduction of instructions and orders, it becomes generally known throughout the Forces that there are these rights of petition and appeal.
That relates to seeing that the Forces in general are informed. Then there is the question of seeing that the individual man who has been convicted not only is aware that he has the right of petition and appeal, but knows how to exercise it. In the Army and Air Force a man is not legally convicted until there has been not only the finding of the court, but that finding has been confirmed. When it has been confirmed, there is always an officer whose duty it is to promulgate the sentences, that is, actually to announce to the convicted man that the sentence of the court has been confirmed. We shall require that the officer whose duty it is to promulgate the sentences in that manner shall at the same time inform the man of his right first to petition—since the right to appeal does not arise until the right of petition has been used—shall describe to him the way in which he may exercise the right of petition, and shall inform him that, should the petition be rejected, there is the further right of appeal.
Then we have to make sure that the actual document, the form on which the man can apply for leave to appeal, is always available. That we shall be able to ensure by seeing that the registrar supplies such forms to the governors of 953 civilian prisons—since some of the men convicted by court-martial will be serving their sentences there—to the commandants of military prisons and detention barracks, and to the commandants of military corrective establishments. Further, that there are such forms available at all command headquarters at home and overseas, and that there is a copy of the form in the Manual of Military Law and the Manual of Air Force Law, so that if anywhere actual supplies of the proper forms have run out, a copy can be made of the version in the Manual of Military Law or Air Force Law.
As a final precaution we shall see that a notice informing the men of their right to petition or appeal is posted on the cell doors in all military prisons, detention barracks and corrective establishments. I hope I shall not give the House the impression that we are looking forward to the business of petitioning and appealing becoming one of the staple occupations of men in the Forces. Naturally it is our hope that the number of men who are in the position of requiring these rights will be as small as possible.
The procedure of the Admiralty is a little different since there is there no process of confirmation. Once the court has issued its findings, the man is legally convicted. The Admiralty, therefore, propose to issue a pamphlet describing the rights of the man, to see that it is available to the man and to the accused's friend at the trial, and that it is the business of the accused's friend to give the man all necessary information, both as to what his rights are and how he may use them. I hope the House will be satisfied that we are determined to take all reasonable precautions to see that this Bill becomes effective.

§ Mr. Manningham-Buller
With the leave of the House, I should like to thank the hon. Gentleman for stating so clearly what it is proposed to do. We think it will be satisfactory, and we hope that it will work well. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on being such an excellent spokesman, not only for the War Office on this occasion, but also for the Admiralty and also for the Air Ministry, whose representative here today has not had the opportunity so far of saying anything. 954 I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.

§ The Lord Advocate
I beg to move, in page 12, line 35, to leave out from "Act," to the end of line 37.
For the convenience of the House, I should like to deal at the same time with the following Amendment. By a previous Amendment to Clause 4 (1), we provided that a notice of application could be lodged either with the registrar or with a person prescribed by rule of court. The purpose of these two Amendments is to impose upon such a person the duty of forwarding the application to the registrar.