Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

Investigation and summary trial of charges - General provisions - When officer is empowered to act as disciplinary officer

108: Officer is empowered to act as disciplinary officer

You could also call this:

"Who can be a disciplinary officer in the Armed Forces"

Illustration for Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

You can act as a disciplinary officer if you are a certain type of officer, like a superior commander. You must be at least two rank grades above the person who is accused. You also need a special certificate that says you are competent to be a disciplinary officer, as decided by the Chief of Defence Force. You cannot act as a disciplinary officer if you think it would be better for someone else to handle the charge. You also cannot act as a disciplinary officer if you are personally involved in the charge, such as if the charge is against you or a family member. There are other situations where you cannot act as a disciplinary officer, such as if an order has been made under section 206(1)(ab) that says the offence cannot be tried by you. If you are considering acting as a disciplinary officer, you need to think about whether you can do so at the relevant time. The relevant time is when you start acting as the disciplinary officer, or when you are deciding whether you can act as the disciplinary officer. You are personally interested in a charge if it is against you, a family member, or if you have a personal connection to the charge that could influence your decision. You need to follow these rules to know if you can act as a disciplinary officer. If you are not sure, you should look at the rules again and consider what they say. You can also look at section 106 and sections 109 to 111 for more information.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM403404.

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107: Effect of delegation, or

"What happens when someone is given permission to make decisions"

109: Charge must be referred to subordinate commander in certain circumstances, or

"When you're accused of doing something wrong in the Armed Forces, your charge goes to your boss."

Part 5Investigation and summary trial of charges
General provisions: When officer is empowered to act as disciplinary officer

108Officer is empowered to act as disciplinary officer

For the purposes of this Part, an officer is empowered to act as a disciplinary officer in relation to a charge if—
the officer is a superior commander, a commanding officer, a detachment commander, or a subordinate commander; and
the officer holds a rank at least 2 rank grades above that of the accused; and
the officer holds a certificate of competency as a disciplinary officer, as prescribed by the Chief of Defence Force; and
in the case of a subordinate commander, the officer holds a delegation under section 106 that authorises him or her to so act.

However, for the purposes of this Part, an officer is not empowered to act as a disciplinary officer in relation to a charge if—
the officer considers, at the relevant time, that it is necessary for the maintenance of discipline, or in the interests of justice, that the charge be referred to another person; or
the officer is personally interested in the charge; or
an order made under section 206(1)(ab) specifies that the offence alleged by the charge may not be tried summarily, or otherwise dealt with, under this Part by the officer.

For the purposes of this section, relevant time means,—
in relation to sections 109 to 111, immediately before the officer begins to act as the disciplinary officer:
in any other case, the time at which the officer is considering under this Part whether he or she is empowered to act as a disciplinary officer in relation to the charge.

For the purposes of this Part, an officer is personally interested in a charge if—
the charge alleges an offence against the officer himself or herself; or
the charge alleges an offence against any member of his or her family; or
the charge alleges an offence by any member of his or her family; or
the charge is one in respect of which the officer or any member of his or her family is the sole witness to any material ingredient of the offence; or
the officer otherwise has a personal interest in the charge that is likely to influence his or her judgment.

Notes

Section 108: substituted, on 1 July 2009, by section 37 of the Armed Forces Discipline Amendment Act (No 2) 2007 (2007 No 98).