Article 13 Duties of a convening authority

–

(1)

Subject to paragraph (2) of this Order, when a convening authority orders a court-martial he shall–

(a)

issue a convening warrant to the president;

(b)

direct the charges upon which the accused is to be brought to trial but where the charge sheet accompanying the circumstantial letter is, in his view, satisfactory, it shall be sufficient for him, in this respect, to countersign the charge sheet;

(c)

direct, if there is more than one accused, whether the accused are to be tried jointly or separately;

(d)

appoint the president and members and any spare members of the court in accordance with section 54 of the Act^f1;

(e)

appoint as prosecutor a legally qualified officer or any other competent person;

(f)

appoint the date, time and place for the trial;

(g)

appoint a legally qualified and legally experienced officer to officiate as judge advocate;

(h)

appoint a person to officiate as clerk of the court;

(i)

appoint, if he thinks fit, a provost marshal;

(j)

send to the prosecutor and judge advocate copies of the convening warrant, circumstantial letter and charge sheet;

(k)

ensure the accused is given a proper opportunity to prepare his defence in accordance with Order 14;

(l)

take steps to procure the attendance at the court-martial of all witnesses to be called for the prosecution and all witnesses whose attendance the accused has reasonably requested in accordance with Order 14.

(2)

Where a convening authority orders a court-martial consequent on an order authorising a re-trial made, under the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968^f2, by the Courts-Martial Appeals Court or under section 71A of the Act^f3, by the Defence Council

(a)

paragraph (1)(b) of this Order shall not apply but the convening authority shall direct that a charge sheet shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of section 19(3) of the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968, and with any direction which may have been given by the Courts-Martial Appeal Court under sub-section (4) of that section and that the accused shall be tried on the charge in that charge sheet;

(b)

when it is proposed to tender any evidence given by any witness at the original trial as evidence at the re-trial in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968 the convening authority shall supply a copy of any such evidence to the accused as soon as practicable and in any case not less than 24 hours before his trial and shall also supply a copy to the judge advocate and the prosecutor.

(3)

If, after a trial has been ordered but before the court has assembled, facts become known to the convening authority so that the convening authority considers that the interests of justice no longer require a trial, then that authority may countermand his order and so inform the accused.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1957 c. 53; section 54 was amended by the Armed Forces Act 1976(c. 52), section 4 and Schedule 2, paragraph 1.
f2: 1968 c. 20.
f3: Section 71(A) was inserted by the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968, section 58 and Schedule 4.