Chapter 8

Rules of Procedure and Court-martial Rules

Amendment of section 240 of Principal Act (rules of procedure).

70 .— Section 240 of the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for subsection (1):

“(1) The Minister may make rules (in this Act referred to as ‘rules of procedure’) in relation to all or any of the following matters:

(a) the assembly and procedure of courts of inquiry and boards;

(b) the form of oath to be taken by the military judge before entering upon his duties under this Act;

(c) in the case of a person remanded for trial by court-martial, the procedures (other than procedures of a court-martial which are the subject of court-martial rules) to be followed in bringing the person to trial, including the taking of a written summary of evidence in the case;

(d) the functions of the Court-Martial Administrator relating to the management and control generally of the administration and business of courts-martial;

(e) the procedure for convening courts-martial;

(f) the procedure for the dissolution by the Court-Martial Administrator of a general court-martial or limited court-martial;

(g) the procedure for referring matters to the summary court-martial;

(h) the procedure for selecting members of a court-martial board;

(i) the procedure in relation to representation for the purposes of section 211A;

(j) the promulgation of the findings and sentence of a court-martial;

(k) the carrying into effect of sentences of courts-martial;

(l) the carrying into effect of decisions made and punishments awarded by the summary court-martial under section 178G;

(m) the form of notice and the giving of such notice under section 212A(12);

(n) the retention and preservation of records of proceedings of a court-martial;

(o) the supply of copies of such records, including provision in respect of any fee payable for the supply of copies;

(p) the officers who are to be prescribed officers for the purposes of section 121;

(q) the functions of the Chief Military Judge (if any);

(r) the judicial functions, other than those with respect to courts-martial, which may be performed by a military judge;

(s) any other matter or thing referred to in this Part (other than Chapters IV and X and any matter or thing referred to in this Part as prescribed by court-martial rules) as prescribed;

(t) any other matter which the Minister considers necessary or expedient for the proper administration of this Part (other than Chapters IV and X and any matter referred to in this Part as the subject of court-martial rules).”.

Insertion of new sections: Courts-Martial Rules Committee, etc.

71 .— (1) The following sections are inserted after section 240 but in Chapter IX of the Principal Act:

“Courts-Martial Rules Committee.

240A.— (1) There is hereby established a committee to be known as Coiste Rialacha na nArmchúirteanna or in the English language as the Courts-Martial Rules Committee (in this Chapter referred to as the ‘Committee’).

(2) The functions of the Committee shall be, with the concurrence of the Minister, to make rules of court (in this Act referred to as ‘court-martial rules’) in accordance with section 240B.

(3) The Committee shall consist of two ex-officio members and six nominated members.

(4) The ex-officio members of the Committee shall be—

(a) the Judge Advocate-General, and

(b) the military judge or, where there is more than one, the Chief Military Judge, who shall be the deputy chairperson of the Committee.

(5) The nominated members of the Committee shall be—

(a) a judge of the Circuit Court nominated by the President of the Circuit Court, who shall be the chairperson of the Committee,

(b) a practising barrister nominated by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland,

(c) a practising solicitor nominated by the Law Society of Ireland,

(d) an officer of the Attorney General, nominated by the Attorney General,

(e) an officer of the Department of Defence, not below the rank of principal officer, nominated by the Minister, and

(f) an officer of the Permanent Defence Force, not below the rank of commandant, nominated by the Chief of Staff, who shall act as secretary to the Committee.

(6) Every nominated member of the Committee shall, unless that member sooner dies, resigns or ceases to be, as the case may be, a judge of the Circuit Court, a practising barrister, a practising solicitor or an officer referred to in subsection (5)(d) to (f) of this section, hold office as such member for five years from the date of nomination.

(7) A nominated member of the Committee whose membership expires with the passage of time shall be eligible for renomination.

(8) Subject to subsection (9) of this section, the Committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies in its membership.

(9) The quorum for a meeting of the Committee shall be four.

(10) The chairperson of the Committee shall preside at all meetings of the Committee at which he is present and in the absence of the chairperson the deputy chairperson shall preside at the meeting.

(11) Subject to subsection (12) of this section, the Committee shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions but in any case shall meet not less frequently than once in each year.

(12) The first meeting of the Committee shall be held within one month after the commencement of this section.

(13) Subject to this Act, the Committee shall regulate the practice and procedure of the Committee.

Court-martial rules.

240B.— (1) The Committee may, with the concurrence of the Minister, make court-martial rules for the purpose of regulating the pleading, practice and procedure generally in all proceedings before courts-martial under this Part of this Act, including rules in relation to all or any of the matters set out in the Twelfth Schedule to this Act.

(2) Court-martial rules shall be deemed to be a statutory instrument to which the Statutory Instruments Act 1947 primarily applies.”.

(2) The Schedule set out in Schedule 7 is inserted after the Eleventh Schedule (inserted by section 20 ) to the Principal Act.