§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether one of their aims in introducing the Bill which became the Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 was to provide that the timing of any election for court martial ensured that the court martial was a court of first instance and not an appeal from summary jurisdiction. [HL2948]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 introduces a right of appeal from summary disciplinary proceedings. It also changes the point at which accused facing summary disciplinary proceedings in the Army and Royal Air Force may elect instead to be tried by court martial. When the changes come into effect, the accused will be offered the opportunity to elect trial by court martial before the commanding officer hears the evidence on the charge rather than, as now, only after the commanding officer has found the charge proved. These new procedures will be similar to those already operated by the Royal Navy.
The main purpose of altering the point of election for court martial is to remove any possibility of confusion between this procedure, which at present in the Army and Royal Air Force may be considered to have certain of the characteristics of an appeal, and the new right of appeal.
A court martial is a court of first instance under both the current and the new dispensations.