Further Memorandum from the Ministry of
Defence
WHAT IS
THE DEFENCE
COUNCIL'S
ROLE IN
DEFINING THE
TERM "COMMANDING
OFFICER"?
This is not new for the Army and the RAF; the
Army Act and the Air Force Act already allow the commanding office,
in relation to a person charged with an offence, to be defined
by the Defence Council. There is also special provision to deal
with, for example, the CO in relation to persons in service custody,
for civilian under service law and detachments. The Naval Discipline
Act does define the commanding office in these circumstance, but
we have found that having the definition in primary legislation
has proved limiting in application.
The aim of putting the definition in regulations
is to provide a flexible system of defining commanding officer
that meets the command and operational needs of the Services.
This will also enable the definitions to be responsive to changing
organisational requirements, such as appointing commanding officers
for disciplinary purposes in new or mixed organisations like the
Defence Logistics Organisation.
February 2006
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