1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Act 1955.
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This Act may be cited as the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Act 1955.
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
appeal means an appeal to the Tribunal under this Act.
appellant means a person who appeals, or applies for leave to appeal under this Act to the Tribunal.
Australia includes the Territories to which this Act extends.
charge means a charge of a service offence.
convicted person means a person who has been convicted by a court martial or a Defence Force magistrate.
conviction means a conviction by a court martial or a Defence Force magistrate.
court martial means a court martial convened under the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
court of summary jurisdiction, in relation to a Territory, includes a court of that Territory sitting as a court for the making of summary orders or the summary punishment of offences under the law of the Territory.
court order means:
an order made by the Australian Military Court under subsection 75(1) of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982; or
an order made by the Australian Military Court under section 83 of that Act; or
an order made by the Australian Military Court under section 84 of that Act;
but does not include an order made in an appeal under Part IX of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
Defence Force magistrate means a Defence Force magistrate appointed under section 127 of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
Finance Minister means the Minister administering the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
member or member of the Tribunal means a member of the Tribunal, and includes the President and Deputy President.
mental impairment has the same meaning as in the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
prescribed acquittal means an acquittal of a service offence by a court martial or a Defence Force magistrate because of mental impairment.
prescribed acquitted person means a person who has been acquitted of a service offence by a court martial or a Defence Force magistrate because of mental impairment.
review and reviewing authority have the same respective meanings as they have in the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
service offence has the same meaning as it has in the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
service tribunal has the same meaning as it has in the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982.
the Deputy President means the Deputy President of the Tribunal, and includes a member appointed to act as Deputy President under subsection (5) of section 7.
the President means the President of the Tribunal.
the Registrar means the Registrar of the Tribunal, and includes a deputy of the Registrar appointed under subsection (2) of section 19.
the Tribunal means the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal constituted under this Act.
For the purposes of this Act, where, in a review under Part VIIIA of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 of the proceedings before a court martial or a Defence Force magistrate, the reviewing authority:
substitutes for the conviction of a service offence a prescribed acquittal of that service offence or a conviction of another service offence; or
takes such action in relation to the convicted person as could have been taken under Part IV of that Act by the court martial or the Defence Force magistrate;
the conviction or prescribed acquittal so substituted or the action so taken, as the case may be, shall be deemed to have been made or taken, as the case may be, by the court martial or the Defence Force magistrate.
This Act extends to all the Territories.
Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code applies to all offences against this Act.
Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.
For the purposes of this Act, there shall be a Tribunal to be known as the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal.
The Tribunal shall consist of a President, a Deputy President and such other persons as are appointed to be members of the Tribunal in pursuance of this Act.
The President, Deputy President and other members of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the Governor‑General by commission.
A member of the Tribunal shall be appointed for such period as the Governor‑General determines, but shall be eligible for re‑appointment.
A person who has attained the age of 70 years shall not be appointed as a member of the Tribunal and a person shall not be appointed as a member of the Tribunal for a period that extends beyond the day on which the person will attain the age of 70 years.
In the event of the absence, through illness or otherwise, or the suspension of the President, or of a vacancy in the office of President, the Deputy President has all the powers and shall perform all the duties of President during the absence, suspension or vacancy.
In the event of the absence, through illness or otherwise, or the suspension of the Deputy President, or of a vacancy in the office of Deputy President, the Governor‑General may appoint another member, being a member who is qualified to be appointed as Deputy President, to act as Deputy President during the absence, suspension or vacancy.
A person is not qualified to be appointed as President or Deputy President unless the person is a Justice or Judge of a federal court or of the Supreme Court of a State or Territory.
Subject to the last preceding subsection, a person is not qualified to be appointed as a member unless:
the person is qualified to be appointed as President of the Tribunal; or
the person is a Judge of a District Court of a State or of a County Court of a State.
The President or the Deputy President ceases to hold office if he or she no longer holds office as a Justice or Judge of a federal court or of a Supreme Court of a State or Territory.
Subject to the last preceding subsection, a member of the Tribunal ceases to hold office if he or she no longer holds office as:
a Justice or Judge of a federal court or of a Supreme Court of a State or Territory; or
a Judge of a District Court of a State or of a County Court of a State.
The appointment of the holder of a judicial office as a member of the Tribunal, or service by the holder of a judicial office as a member of the Tribunal whether the appointment was or is made or the service occurred or occurs before or after the commencement of this section, does not affect, and shall be deemed never to have affected, his or her tenure of that judicial office or his or her rank, title, status, precedence, salary, annual or other allowances or other rights or privileges as the holder of that judicial office and, for all purposes, his or her service, whether before or after the commencement of that section, as a member of the Tribunal shall be taken to have been, or to be, service as the holder of that judicial office.
In this section, judicial office means an office of Justice of the High Court or Judge of a court created by the Parliament.
The Governor‑General may, for the purposes of appointing to an office of member of the Tribunal a person who is the holder of a judicial office of a State or of the Northern Territory, enter into such arrangement with the Governor of that State or the Administrator of that Territory, as the case may be, as is necessary to secure that person’s services.
An arrangement in subsection (1) may provide for the Commonwealth to reimburse a State or the Northern Territory with respect to the services of the person to whom the arrangement relates.
Each member shall, before proceeding to discharge the duties of his or her office, take before the Governor‑General or a Justice or Judge of a federal court or of the Supreme Court of a State or Territory an oath or make an affirmation in accordance with the form of oath or affirmation in the Schedule.
The President, Deputy President and other members shall be paid such remuneration as is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.
The President, Deputy President and other members shall be paid such allowances as are prescribed.
This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973‑1974.
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