Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Armed Forces (Court Martial) (Amendment) Rules 2025.

(2) These Rules come into force on 20th February 2025.

(3) These Rules extend to England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the British overseas territories (except Gibraltar).

Amendment of the Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009

2.  In the Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009(2), in Rule 34 (the president of the board)—

(a)in paragraph (3)—

(i)after “officer”, insert “(“A”)”;

(ii)in subparagraphs (a) and (b), for “he”, in both places it occurs, substitute “A”;

(iii)in subparagraph (c), after the words “to whom proceedings relate”, insert “(“B”)” and for the words after “subject to service law,”, substitute “A satisfies the requirements set out in paragraphs (4) and (4A).”;

(b)for paragraph (4), substitute “Where B is of rank OF-6 or above, A must be of rank OF-6 or above.”;

(c)after paragraph (4), insert—

“(4A) Where B is of rank OF-5 or below, A must be of superior rank to B.”;

(d)after paragraph (5), insert—

“(5A)In this rule—

“OF-5” means any of the following—

“OF-6” means any of the following—

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

This instrument amends Rule 34 of the Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009 (S.I. 2009/2041). Rule 2 provides that in proceedings requiring lay members the rank of the president of the board must be at least OF-6 where the defendant is of rank OF-6 or higher. Where a defendant is of rank OF-5 or lower, the president of the board must be of superior rank to the defendant.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.