Armed Forces Bill

House of Commons

Session 2010 - 11
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Armed Forces Bill

Armed Forces Bill
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Persons eligible to be prosecuting officers
In section 365 of AFA 2006 (prosecuting officers)—
(a)
in subsection (1), for “officers” (where it first occurs) substitute
“persons”;
(b)
in subsection (2) for “An officer” substitute “A person”.
5
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Civilians subject to service discipline
(1)
Schedule 15 to AFA 2006 (civilians subject to service discipline) is amended as
follows.
(2)
In paragraph 4(1), for paragraph (c) substitute—
“(c)
either—
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(i)
he is in a designated area, and his normal place of
work in that role is in that designated area; or
(ii)
sub-paragraph (i) does not apply, but he is in a
designated area and he came there wholly or partly
for the purposes of his work in that role.”
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(3)
In paragraph 5(1), for paragraph (c) substitute—
“(c)
either—
(i)
he is in a country outside the British Islands, and his
normal place of work under that employment is in
that country; or
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(ii)
sub-paragraph (i) does not apply, but he is in a
country outside the British Islands and he came there
wholly or partly for the purposes of his work under
that employment.”
(4)
In paragraph 6(1), for paragraph (b) substitute—
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“(b)
either—
(i)
he is in a designated area, and his normal place of
work for that organisation is in that designated area;
or
(ii)
sub-paragraph (i) does not apply, but he is in a
30
designated area and he came there wholly or partly
for the purposes of work for that organisation.”
(5)
In paragraph 10—
(a)
in sub-paragraph (1)—
(i)
in paragraph (a), for “a relevant person outside the British
35
Islands” substitute “a qualifying person in a relevant country”;
(ii)
in paragraph (b), for “outside the British Islands” substitute “in
that country”;
(b)
in sub-paragraph (2)—
(i)
for ““relevant person”” substitute ““qualifying person””;
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(ii)
in paragraph (b), for “being in the British Islands” substitute
“not being in a relevant country”;
(c)
after sub-paragraph (2) insert—
    “(3)
For the purposes of this paragraph, a country is “relevant” in
relation to a person employed as mentioned in paragraph 5 if
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it is outside the British Islands and—

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(a)
is where that person’s normal place of work under
that employment is situated; or
(b)
is a country to which that person came wholly or
partly for the purposes of his work under that
employment.”
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(6)
After paragraph 13 insert—
“14
For the purposes of paragraphs 5(1)(c), 10 and 11, a territory that is
not within a country is to be treated as a country.”
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Protected prisoners of war
(1)
After section 371 of AFA 2006 insert—
10
“Protected prisoners of war
371A
Power to make provision in relation to protected prisoners of war
(1)
Her Majesty may by warrant make provision with respect to protected
prisoners of war.
(2)
A Royal Warrant made under this section may in particular make
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provision in relation to protected prisoners of war which—
(a)
applies any relevant provision, or
(b)
is equivalent to that made by any relevant provision,

subject to such modifications as may be contained in the Royal
Warrant.
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(3)
In subsection (2) “relevant provision” means any provision of or made
under this Act (including any provision creating a service offence),
other than any provision of or made under Part 14, 15 or 16.
(4)
The Secretary of State must publish a Royal Warrant made under this
section in such a way as appears to the Secretary of State to be
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appropriate.
(5)
Section 373(5) (power to make supplementary provision etc) applies in
relation to Royal Warrants under this section.
(6)
In this section “protected prisoner of war” means a person—
(a)
who is a protected prisoner of war within the meaning given by
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section 7 of the Geneva Conventions Act 1957; and
(b)
as respects whom the United Kingdom is the detaining power
for the purposes of the Geneva Convention relative to the
Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949 (set out in the
Third Schedule to that Act).”
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(2)
In consequence of the provision made by subsection (1), section 56 of the Court
Martial Appeals Act 1968 (modifications of that Act for protected prisoners of
war) is repealed.

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Other amendments and repeals
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Byelaws for service purposes
(1)
In section 2 of the Military Lands Act 1900 (sea byelaws)—
(a)
in subsection (2), omit paragraph (b) of the proviso;
(b)
after subsection (2) insert—
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“(2A)
Before making any such byelaws the Secretary of State must—
(a)
take all reasonable steps to ascertain whether the
byelaws would injuriously affect any public rights; and
(b)
be satisfied, in relation to every public right that the
Secretary of State considers would be injuriously
10
affected by the byelaws—
(i)
that a restriction of the right is required for the
safety of the public or for the requirements of the
military purpose for which the area to which the
byelaws apply is used; and
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(ii)
that the restriction of the right imposed by the
byelaws is only to such extent as is reasonable in
all the circumstances of the case.”;
(c)
omit subsection (3).
(2)
In section 17(1) of the Military Lands Act 1892 (notice of byelaws), for the
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words from “necessary” to the end substitute “appropriate”.
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Claims against visiting forces: transfer of liability
After section 9 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952 insert—
“9A
Claims against visiting forces: transfer of liability
(1)
This section applies where a claim is brought in a court in the United
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Kingdom against a country to which this section applies (“the country
concerned”) and the claim is within subsection (2).
(2)
A claim is within this subsection if—
(a)
it is a claim in tort;
(b)
it arises—
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(i)
out of an act done by a member of a visiting force of the
country concerned, or of a civilian component of such a
force, in the performance of official duties; or
(ii)
out of any other act or occurrence for which a visiting
force of the country concerned, or a civilian component
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of such a force, is legally responsible;
(c)
it is brought by a third party; and
(d)
it is not an excluded claim.
(3)
Where this section applies the Secretary of State may, if requested to do
so by the country concerned, make a declaration under this section.
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(4)
A declaration under this section is a written declaration, signed by the
Secretary of State, which—
(a)
specifies the claim concerned and the matter to which it relates;
and

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(b)
states that, with effect from a time specified in the declaration,
any liability in tort of the country concerned in respect of that
matter is transferred to the Ministry of Defence.
(5)
A declaration under this section has the effect that the liability mentioned in
the declaration is transferred to the Ministry of Defence at the time specified in
5
the declaration.
(6)
The Secretary of State must notify the country concerned and the
claimant where a declaration under this section has been made.
(7)
Section 9 does not apply to a claim in respect of which liability has been
transferred under this section.
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(8)
In this section—
“act” includes an omission;
“the Agreement” means the Agreement between the Parties to the
North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of their Forces, done
in London on 19th June 1951;
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“excluded claim” means a claim to which, by virtue of paragraph
5(h) of Article VIII of the Agreement (certain claims arising from
ships and cargo), paragraph 5(a) of that Article does not apply;
“third party” means a person other than a member of a visiting
force of the country concerned or of a civilian component of
20
such a force;
“tort” includes delict.
(9)
It is immaterial for the purposes of this section whether the country
concerned is the only defendant in relation to the claim mentioned in
subsection (1).”
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Judge advocates sitting in civilian courts
Schedule 2 (which makes provision enabling judge advocates to sit in the
Crown Court and magistrates’ courts) has effect.
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Repeal of Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915
The Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915 ceases to have effect.
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Minor amendments of service legislation
Schedule 3 (minor amendments of service legislation) has effect.
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Consequential amendments and repeals
(1)
Schedule 4 (consequential amendments) has effect.
(2)
Schedule 5 (repeals and revocations) has effect.
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Supplementary
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Meaning of “AFA 2006”
In this Act “AFA 2006” means the Armed Forces Act 2006.