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The Naval Discipline Act 1957 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom governing discipline in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. It governed
courts-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of mem ...
and criminal penalties for crimes committed by
officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...
and
rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, ...
s of the Royal Navy. It was substantially replaced at the end of 2008 by the
Armed Forces Act 2006 The Armed Forces Act 2006 (c 52) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into force on 31 October 2006. It replaces the three separate Service Discipline Acts (the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discipl ...
, which created a unified code of
military law Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodi ...
for all three
British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...
. The whole Naval Discipline Act was repealed in October 2009.


Amendments

The Armed Forces Act 1981 amended certain aspects of the Act; most notably, it abolished the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
for the crime of espionage for the enemy on ships or in naval establishments. The
Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...
abolished the death penalty for all other capital crimes under the Act. In 2004, courts martial in the Royal Navy were reformed by an order issued by the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. The Committee found that the appointment of serving naval officers as
Judge Advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...
s, and their appointment by the Chief Naval Judge Advocate (also a serving officer), undermined the independence and impartiality of courts martial, thereby contravening human rights legislation. The Order instructed that all judge advocates should be appointed solely by the
Judge Advocate of the Fleet The Judge Advocate of the Fleet was an appointed civilian judge who was responsible for the supervision and superintendence of the court martial system in the Royal Navy from 1663 to 2008. History The position dates to the sixteenth century but ...
, a civilian circuit judge.Naval Discipline Act 1957 (Remedial) Order 2004
UK Parliament Publications


References


External links

* United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1957 Royal Navy 1957 in military history United Kingdom military law {{UK-mil-stub