{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/courts-martial-royal-navy-rules-2007/rule-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/courts-martial-royal-navy-rules-2007/rule-2.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2007/3443",
  "legislation_title": "The Courts-Martial (Royal Navy) Rules 2007",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/courts-martial-royal-navy-rules-2007",
  "path": "rule/2",
  "kind": "rule",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "Interpretation",
  "text": "(1) In these Rules—\n“the Act” means the Naval Discipline Act 1957;\n“the 2003 Act” means the Criminal Justice Act 2003;\n“the board” means those members of the court-martial other than the judge advocate;\n“commanding officer”, in relation to an accused, means the officer who is for the time being in command of the ship, unit or establishment to which the accused belongs;\n“commencement of the trial” shall be construed in accordance with rule 57;\n“the judge advocate”—\n(i) in relation to a court-martial, means the judge advocate appointed by or on behalf of the Judge Advocate General to be a member of the court-martial;\n(ii) in relation to a preliminary hearing, means the judge advocate appointed by or on behalf of the Judge Advocate General to conduct any such proceedings;\n“legal representative” means a person appointed to represent an accused at any proceedings before a court-martial, providing he is—\n(i) a person who has a general qualification within the meaning of section 71 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990;\n(ii) an advocate or a solicitor in Scotland;\n(iii) a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland or a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland; or\n(iv) a person having in any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a Commonwealth country or British overseas territory rights and duties similar to those of a barrister or solicitor in England and Wales, and subject to punishment or disability for breach of professional rules;\n“live television link” means an arrangement by which a person (when not in the place where the hearing is being held) is able to see and hear, and to be seen and heard by, the court during a hearing (and for this purpose any impairment of eyesight or hearing is to be disregarded);\n“preliminary charge” means the charge which would have been dealt with summarily had the accused not elected court-martial trial;\n“preliminary hearing” shall be construed in accordance with rule 33;\n“the president of the board” shall be construed in accordance with rule 52;\n“the prosecuting authority” means the prosecuting authority or any prosecuting officer or other person appearing on his behalf;\n“prosecution papers” shall be construed in accordance with rule 9; and\n“special finding” shall be construed in accordance with rule 74.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "1990 c. 41."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/3443/rule/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T03:40:02.316858+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}