Armed Forces Bill (Paperback)

The current system of military law is based on separate Service Discipline Acts for each of the three branches of the armed forces. This Bill seeks to update this with a single, harmonised system for military discipline in order to improve efficiency and consistency between the Services, although the key elements of the discipline systems will remain (including the jurisdiction for commanding officers (COs) to deal with less serious offences, with more serious offences being required to be tried by court-martial). The Bill contains 19 parts and 17 schedules with proposals which include: the creation of a standing court martial (to replace the current system where court martials are set up to deal with particular cases) which may sit in more than one place at the same time, and with different judge advocates and service personnel for different trials; and the appointment of a Director of Service Prosecutions to replace the three existing prosecuting authorities.