§ 103A.—(1) Where an officer to whom this subsection applies—
- (a) is commanding a body of the regular air force on active service; and
- (b) is of opinion that it is not possible without serious detriment to the public service for a charge against a member of that body to be tried by a general or district court-martial, he may direct that the charge be tried by a field general court-martial.
§ (2) Subsection (1) above applies to—
- (a) the commanding officer who has investigated the charge;
- (b) the commanding officer or appropriate superior authority who has determined on a summary dealing that the charge against the accused has been proved, in a case where the accused has elected court-martial trial and that election has not been withdrawn;
- (c) where the charge is against an officer or warrant officer, the higher authority to whom the charge has been referred by the commanding officer.
§ (3) If an officer to whom subsection (1) above applies directs that a charge be tried by a field general court-martial, he shall by order convene a field general court-martial.
§ (4) The order convening the field general court-martial shall specify—
- (a) the date, time and place at which the court-martial is to sit;
- (b) the officers who are to be members of the court-martial;
- (c) which of those officers is to be president of the court-martial.
§ (5) At any time before the commencement of the trial, the officer who convened the field general court-martial may, in accordance with rules under section 103C of this Act, amend or withdraw the order convening the court-martial.
§ (6) Subject to subsection (7) below, the officer convening the field general court-martial shall not be a member of the court-martial.
§ (7) The officer convening the field general court-martial may be its president if, in his opinion, it is not possible, without serious detriment to the public service, to appoint another officer as president.