# The Courts-Martial (Amendment) Rules 2005, Article 4: Further amendments to the Royal Navy Rules


(1) The Royal Navy Rules are further amended as follows.
(2) In rule 28 for paragraph (1) there is substituted—
“(1) Subject to rule 29 below, the president shall be responsible for ensuring that the trial befits the traditions and standards of the Royal Navy.”.
(3) In rule 29 for paragraph (1) there is substituted—
“(1) The judge advocate shall conduct the court-martial in accordance with the law of England and Wales.”.
(4) In rule 33 paragraph (3) is revoked.
(5) In rule 37(2) sub-paragraph (a) is revoked.
(6) In rule 43 paragraph (5) is revoked.
(7) In rule 44—
(a) in paragraph (2) for “and the prosecutor and the accused may call any witness to give evidence about the facts of the case.” there is substituted—
“and—
(a) the judge advocate may direct the prosecutor to call any witness to give evidence, and
(b) the prosecutor and the accused may, with the leave of the judge advocate, adduce evidence.”;
(b) in paragraph (4) for “president” there is substituted “judge advocate”; and
(c) for paragraph (5) there is substituted—
“(5) In the case of an equality of votes on the finding on the issue of fact, the president shall have a second or casting vote.”.
(8) In rule 53 after paragraph (4) there is inserted—
“(5) The judge advocate may question any witness and, if he considers it appropriate, may put to the witness a question from any other member of the court.”.
(9) Rule 54 is revoked.
(10) In rule 58(2)—
(a) in sub-paragraph (a) after “defence;” there is inserted “and”;
(b) in sub-paragraph (b) for “behalf; and” there is substituted “behalf.”; and
(c) sub-paragraph (c) is revoked.
(11) In rule 64 for paragraph (3) there is substituted—
“(3) During its deliberation on finding, the court shall not separate until the finding has been reached unless the judge advocate directs that in the interests of justice the court may separate.”.
(12) In rule 70—
(a) in paragraph (1) for “the clerk of the court and any officer” there is substituted “persons”; and
(b) for paragraph (4) there is substituted—
“(4) The judge advocate shall vote last and the president shall vote immediately before him.”.
(13) In rule 72 for paragraph (3) there is substituted—
“(3) The reasons for sentence shall be given by the judge advocate.”
(14) In rule 77 paragraph (5) is revoked.
(15) In Schedule 4—
(a) in paragraph 4 after “Almighty God” there is inserted “that I will well and truly try the accused before the court according to the evidence, and”; and
(b) paragraph 5 is revoked.
(16) The amendments made by paragraphs (1) to (15) shall only apply in relation to courts-martial convened on or after 1 July 2005.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1535/article/4 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/courts-martial-amendment-rules-2005/article-4
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.