Overview

This bill amends the Armed Forces Bill by restricting the government's power to create regulations concerning the appeals process for court martials. It requires parliamentary approval for certain regulations, enhancing legislative oversight and scrutiny.

Description

The bill makes amendments to clauses 10 and 11 of the Armed Forces Bill. These amendments focus on regulations made under subsections 10 and 9 respectively. The key change is the introduction of new subsections (10A) and (9A). These subsections impose significant limitations on the types of regulations that can be created:

• Regulations cannot mirror provisions already available under sections 31A, 33, 33A, 46A, or 47 of the Court Martial Appeals Act 1968.
• If regulations are created that *do* correspond to these sections, they must be subject to parliamentary approval before they can be enacted. This means both houses of Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords) must explicitly approve a draft of the regulations.

In essence, this restricts the government's ability to create regulations related to court-martial appeals without explicit parliamentary consent, increasing the level of democratic accountability.

Government Spending

The bill is unlikely to have a significant direct impact on government spending. The cost will likely be associated with the parliamentary process of reviewing and approving any affected regulations.

Groups Affected

The bill primarily affects:

• Members of the Armed Forces: The changes will impact how appeals against court-martial decisions are handled, potentially increasing transparency and fairness in the process.
• Parliamentarians: The bill increases their role in overseeing regulations concerning court-martial appeals, requiring their explicit approval for certain regulations.
• The Ministry of Defence: The bill limits the Ministry's power to independently create regulations in this area.

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