# The Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009, Article 56: Arraignment


(1) A defendant shall be arraigned in preliminary proceedings on each charge brought against him, but need not be arraigned on every charge at the same time.
(2) A defendant shall be required to plead separately to each charge on which he is arraigned.
(3) Where a defendant pleads guilty to a charge, the judge advocate may accept the plea if satisfied that the defendant understands—
(a) the nature of the charge;
(b) the general effect of the plea; and
(c) the difference in procedure following pleas of guilty and not guilty.
(4) Where the judge advocate accepts a plea of a guilty to a charge—
(a) the defendant shall stand convicted of the charge; and
(b) unless there is a further charge against him to which he has not pleaded guilty (or as respects which a plea of guilty has not been accepted by the judge advocate), the court administration officer shall appoint a time and place for sentencing proceedings.
(5) Where—
(a) a plea of guilty is not accepted by the judge advocate, or
(b) the defendant does not plead (or does not plead intelligibly) to the charge,
the judge advocate shall record a plea of not guilty.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2009/9780111479216/article/56 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-armed-forces-court-martial-rules-2009/article-56
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.