# The Naval Courts-Martial General Orders (Royal Navy) 1991, Article 2: Interpretation


In these General Orders any reference to an Order is, except where the context otherwise requires, a reference to a General Order contained therein and the following expressions have the meanings respectively assigned to them–
“accused’s friend” has the meaning given by Order 14;
“the Act” means the Naval Discipline Act 1957;
“child” means a person under the age of 14 years;
“circumstantial letter” means letter outlining the prosecution case drafted underOrder 4;
“civilian counsel” has the meaning given by Order 72;
“closed court” means proceedings of the court conducted for the time being in the presence only of the president, members of the court, judge advocate and clerk of the court;
“commanding officer” means the commanding officer of the ship or establishment in which the accused is for the time being serving;
“convening authority” means an officer authorised to order a court-martial in accordance with the provisions of section 53 of the Act or, where a court-martial is ordered by the Defence Council, the Defence Council;
“court” means a court-martial ordered under the Act;
“member” when used in relation to a court-martial does not include the president;
“open court” means proceedings of the court conducted in the presence of all parties and any members of the public present;
“special finding” means when used in relation to–
(a) section 67 or 68 of the Act, any finding which a court-martial may make in accordance with that section;
(b) a finding in accordance with section 63 of the Act, that the accused is not guilty by reason of insanity;
“young person” means a person who has attained the age of 14 years and is under the age of 17 years.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/2737/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/naval-courts-martial-general-orders-royal-navy-1991/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.