PART 3

Amendments to Part V of Principal Act

Chapter 1

Liability to Military Law

Amendment of section 120 of Principal Act (liability to military law in respect of status).

12 .— Section 120 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for subsection (2):

“(2) Where—

(a) an offence (other than that of mutiny, desertion, fraudulent enlistment or a civil offence committed by a person subject to military law while he was on active service outside the State or while he was despatched for service outside the State for any purpose specified in section 3 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 ) against military law triable by court-martial under this Act has been committed by any person while subject to military law, and

(b) such person has since commission of the offence ceased to be subject to military law,

that person may not be tried for the offence unless he is charged with the offence in accordance with this Act within six months beginning on the date on which he ceased to be so subject, but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction of a civil court where the offence is triable by that court as well as by court-martial.”,

and

(b) by substituting the following for subsection (3):

“(3) Where a person subject to military law is sentenced by a court-martial to a term of imprisonment or detention and is in service custody, this Act shall apply to the person during the term of that sentence, notwithstanding that the person is discharged or dismissed from the Defence Forces or has otherwise ceased to be subject to military law, and the person may be kept, removed, imprisoned, made to undergo detention and punished accordingly as if the person continued to be subject to military law.”.

Amendment of section 121 of Principal Act (modification of Part V in its application to civilians subject to military law).

13 .— The following section is substituted for section 121 of the Principal Act:

“Modification of Part V in its application to civilians subject to military law.

121.— In the application of this Part to persons who do not belong to the Defence Forces, the following modifications shall be made:

(a) where an offence against military law has been committed by any person subject to military law who does not belong to the Defence Forces and the person is remanded for trial by court-martial under this Act, that person may be tried by such class of court-martial as the Director directs and, on conviction, dealt with and punished accordingly;

(b) any person subject to military law who does not belong to the Defence Forces shall, for the purpose of this Part, be deemed to be under the command of the prescribed officer, and that person, subject to the right to elect to be tried by court-martial pursuant to section 177B or 178B, as appropriate, may, with the prior consent of the Director, be dealt with summarily and punished under Chapter IV of this Part, according to whether the person is subject to military law as an officer or as a man.”.

Amendment of section 123 of Principal Act (time limit for trial of offences).

14 .— Section 123 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for subsection (1):

“(1) Subject to subsection (1A), a person subject to military law shall not be charged with an offence (other than that of mutiny, desertion, fraudulent enlistment or a civil offence committed by a person subject to military law while he was on active service outside the State or while he was despatched for service outside the State for any purpose specified in section 3 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 ) against military law triable by court-martial under this Act after the end of six years beginning with the date of commission of the offence.”,

and

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) Proceedings for the summary disposal of a scheduled offence under Chapter IV of this Part may be commenced—

(a) at any time within 12 months from the date on which the offence was committed, or

(b) at any time within 12 months from the date on which evidence sufficient, in the opinion of the person by whom the proceedings are initiated, to justify the proceedings comes to that person’s knowledge,

whichever is the later, but no such proceedings shall be commenced later than 3 years from the date on which the offence concerned was committed.

(1B) In calculating a period referred to in subsection (1) or (1A) of this section there shall not be included any period during which the person is certified by his commanding officer as being—

(a) on active service,

(b) despatched for service outside the State for any purpose specified in section 3 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 ,

(c) otherwise engaged in any other essential operational duties within or outside the State,

(d) absent without leave, or

(e) unavailable for investigation due to illness.”.