Defence Force Discipline Appeals Act 1955

For the purposes of proceedings before the Tribunal under this Part, the Tribunal may:

appoint a person (who may be a member of the Tribunal) to receive evidence on behalf of the Tribunal and allow the admission of evidence given before, and of documents, books or writings produced to, a person so appointed;

summon a person, who would have been a compellable witness at the trial by the court martial or the Defence Force magistrate, by writing under the hand of a member of the Tribunal, to attend the Tribunal or a person appointed by the Tribunal to receive evidence on behalf of the Tribunal, at a time and place named in the summons, and then and there to give evidence and to produce any documents, books or writings in the person’s custody or control which the person is required by the summons to produce;

receive the evidence, if tendered, of any witness, including the appellant, who is a competent but not compellable witness and, on the application of the appellant, of the husband, wife or spouse of the appellant in a case where the evidence of the husband, wife or spouse could not have been given at the trial except on such an application;

where a question arising on an appeal involves prolonged examination of documents or accounts, or a scientific or local investigation, being an examination or investigation which cannot, in the opinion of the Tribunal, conveniently be conducted before the Tribunal—order the reference of the question for inquiry and report to a special commissioner appointed by the Tribunal and act upon the report of the commissioner so far as the Tribunal thinks fit to adopt it; and

where it appears to the Tribunal that special knowledge of a matter is required for the proper determination of an appeal—appoint a person with that special knowledge to act as assessor to the Tribunal.

A summons under paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection may be served personally or by being left at the usual place of abode of the person named in the summons.