Article 3 Warrant officers qualified to be members of the courts
Subject to the provisions of this article, warrant officers shall be qualified to be members of the courts.
A warrant officer shall not be qualified to be a member of any of the courts if—
he serves under the command of the court administration officer of any of the courts;
he serves under the command of a prosecuting authority appointed under section 83A of the Army Act 1955 or the Air Force Act 1955, or section 52H of the Naval Discipline Act 1957f1;
he has a general qualification within the meaning of section 71 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990f2;
he is an advocate or a solicitor in Scotland;
he is a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland or a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland;
he has in any Commonwealth country rights and duties similar to those of a barrister or solicitor in England and Wales, and is subject to punishment or disability for breach of professional rules; or
he has at any time during the preceding five years been a service policeman.
A naval or air-force warrant officer shall not be qualified to be a member of the military court for the purposes of hearing an appeal unless the court administration officer considers that the necessary number of persons belonging to Her Majesty’s military forces and qualified to be members of the court is not (with due regard to the public service) available to sit as members of the court for the purposes of that hearing.
A naval or military warrant officer shall not be qualified to be a member of the air-force court for the purposes of hearing an appeal unless the court administration officer considers that the necessary number of persons belonging to Her Majesty’s air forces and qualified to be members of the court is not (with due regard to the public service) available to sit as members of the court for the purposes of that hearing.
A military or air-force warrant officer shall not be qualified to be a member of the naval court for the purposes of hearing an appeal unless the court administration officer considers that the necessary number of persons belonging to Her Majesty’s naval forces and qualified to be members of the court is not (with due regard to the public service) available to sit as members of the court for the purposes of that hearing.
A warrant officer belonging to the naval forces of a Commonwealth country shall not be qualified to be a member of the military court or the air-force court.
Annotations
Footnotes
- f1
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Section 83A of the Army Act 1955 and the Air Force Act 1955, and section 52H of the Naval Discipline Act 1957, were inserted by paragraphs 14 to 16 of Schedule 1 to the Armed Forces Act 1996 (c. 46) (“the 1996 Act”).
- f2