Published: 03 November 2004
Armed forces Bill Progress
The Tri-Service Armed Forces Bill has undergone the first stage of pre-legislative scrutiny.
The Bill proposes a single system of Service Law, replacing the current separate systems for each Service, which will better meet the Services' needs in the modern world where they increasingly operate and train together.
Oral evidence was given to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee by Ministry of Defence officials and Service personnel.
The MOD team providing evidence is led by Mr Julian Miller, the Director General Service Personnel Policy, and includes representatives from the Service and civilian policy and legal teams.
The evidence sessions form part of the Committee's inquiry into the MOD's proposals for a Tri-Service Armed Forces Bill. The Committee is planning to produce a report early in 2005.
The basis for the Committee's inquiry is a memorandum submitted by the MOD which sets out the key principles underlying the legislation and provides an outline of the main policy proposals.
The next five-yearly Armed Forces Bill is due in the 2005-06 Parliamentary session and it is planned that this will be the vehicle for the Tri-Service legislation.
This is, however, subject to the availability of Parliamentary time for what will be a very large Bill.
The statutory basis for the Services disciplinary and criminal justice systems is provided by the Service Discipline Acts:
- the Army and Air Force Acts 1955 and
- the Naval Discipline Act 1957. The Acts are subject to renewal by primary legislation every five years
.
The 1998 Strategic Defence Review stated that there would "be advantages to be gained from combining the three Service Discipline Acts into a single Act".
A joint Service and civilian team was established in the MOD in 2001 to carry out the work towards a modern and harmonised single system of Service law.
Further information
MOD Wesite
Defence Committee
The Army, Air Force and Naval Discipline Acts (Continuation) Order 2003
Naval Discipline of the future - A Tri-service Act
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