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Admiralty references: C.E.60010/48, C.E.60008/48 SECTION I. BOARDS OF INQUIRY 2301. Convening of Board of Inquiry. A board of inquiry may be used by any officer in command of a fleet or squadron, station, or division of a station, to enable him to arrive at a correct conclusion on any matter upon which he requires to be thoroughly informed, or upon which there may be a question whether it should form the subject of a court-martial. 2. Inquiries into flying accidents are to be dealt with as directed in A.P.(N) 76 Regulations for Naval Aviation. 3. The instructions to the board should always be issued by the convening authority in writing on Form S.1360. 4. The board may be re-assembled as often, and with such alterations in its composition, as may be directed. 2302. Selection of members. Members of a board of inquiry are not disqualified to sit upon a court-martial upon the same subject matter because they have acted as such, but objection may be taken to them and may be allowed by the court, and this contingency is to be considered in selecting the members. With due regard to this contingency, and so far as may be practicable, the president and members should be senior to the person whose conduct is under enquiry. See 0151 as to president. 2. It is undesirable that officers whose evidence may be required by the board should be nominated as members. In accident cases the board should not, where possible, be wholly composed of officers belonging to the ship in which the accident occurred. See also 1642 Accidental death or serious injury. 3. Where a board is ordered to investigate an occurrence in which the conduct of a W.R.N.S. officer or rating is directly involved, it is desirable as a general rule that a W.R.N.S. officer should be appointed as a member of the board, and that where a person concerned is a W.R.N.S. officer' the officer detailed as a member of the board should be of at least equal rank. 2303. Duties and powers. The duties of a board of inquiry depend on the instructions which the authority ordering the inquiry may think proper to give. It may be required to examine witnesses and record their evidence without being required to give any opinion. 2. It is not a judicial body and has no power to award any punishment; it can only recommend. It may however be invested with any power not exceeding that of the convening officer which may be necessary for the proper conduct of the inquiry, such as calling before it naval witnesses and requiring the production of official papers. 3. It should be noted that members of the reserves who are not in actual service or undergoing training are not subject to the Naval Discipline Act and consequently cannot be compelled to attend boards of inquiry, whether they are themselves concerned in the subject matter of the inquiry or not. The Admiralty nevertheless expect that a reserve officer whose attendance is required will make all reasonable endeavours to be present. Military law applies to officers of the Royal Marine Forces Volunteer Reserve when ordered on any duty or service for which as such they are liable as it applies to officers of the Royal Marines; officers of this reserve can therefore be compelled to attend 2304 BOARDS OF INQUIRY AND NAVAL COURTS boards and courts of inquiry. If a R.M.F.V.R. officer is required to attend such an inquiry a request should be made to the Commanding Officer of the R.M.F.V.R. centre concerned. 2304. Procedure. A board of inquiry, unless otherwise ordered, is to sit with closed doors. 2. Except where a board is ordered in accordance with Article 1936 (7), dealing with the right of certain ratings to elect trial by court-martial, no person is to be present in the character of a prosecutor, nor is any friend or professional adviser to be allowed to assist any person concerned in the inquiry. 3. Any person in Her Majesty's service who may be concerned in the result of the inquiry should be present during the whole time that witnesses are being examined. If he objects or refuses to be present the proceedings are to be carried on in his absence unless the board is held in accordance with Article 1936 (7), in which case the accuser and the accused, together with the latter's friend, are to be present during the whole of the time that witnesses are being examined. 4. If the inquiry should have reference to the loss or hazarding of a ship, the course directed by Article 2252 (B.R. 11, Article 461 (2)), with the exception of taking evidence on oath, is to be pursued. 2305. Examination of witnesses. A board of inquiry has no power to compel the attendance of civilians as witnesses. When it is desired to take evidence from the master or crew of a private ship, care is to be taken to inform the witnesses that their attendance is voluntary, and if time permits they are to be told to obtain sanction from the agents or owners of their ships. See 1642 (3) as to attendance of relatives at inquiries into deaths. 2. A board of inquiry has no power to examine witnesses on oath. 3. Before examination every naval witness is to be warned in the following terms and the caution is to be recorded in the minutes: " The Admiralty have directed that at all boards of inquiry any naval witness who gives evidence concerning the matters under investigation should be informed that he is privileged to refuse to answer any question the answer to which may tend to expose him to any penalty or forfeiture: it will be for you to raise the objection and for the board to decide whether you must answer the question or not." No one charged with any offence is bound to make any statement or answer any questions. 4. Witnesses not subject to the Naval Discipline Act are to be informed as follows: " This board is inquiring into a matter affecting the naval service and is confident you will give it all assistance in your power. You are not however legally obliged to answer any question if you do not wish to do so." 2306. Report of Board of Inquiry. The minutes of the proceedings are to be signed by all the members and forwarded by the president to the authority ordering the inquiry. If there is a difference of opinion among the members on a material point, the grounds of difference are to be stated fully. 2. The written instructions issued to the board by the convening authority, and any sketches or diagrams which may have been produced during the proceedings in order to illustrate the evidence of a witness, are to be attached to the minutes. 3. To prevent any unauthorised publication of the proceedings the president is to decide how many copies of the minutes are to be made and their disposal. When a shorthand writer has been employed, the shorthand notes are to accompany the copy or copies of the transcript rendered to the authority ordering the inquiry. 4. The record of proceedings is in all cases to be sent by the convening authority to the Commander-in-Chief who, in the absence of any special directions, will exercise his discretion about forwarding it to the Admiralty. If records of proceedings of boards of inquiry affecting submarines, or officers and men serving in submarines, are submitted to the Admiralty, copies of the findings are to be sent to the Flag Officer, Submarines. On the disposal of board of inquiry reports on accidents to aircraft see A.P. (N) 76 Regulations for Naval Aviation. 5. Attention is called to the special instructions given in B.R. Form U.2.D in connection with boards of inquiry into the loss of secret and confidential books, documents and keys. See also 1642 on medical evidence and 4262 (7) as to report about Hurt Certificates in accident cases. I. BOARDS OF INQUIRY 2309 2307. Use of proceedings in connection with courts-martial. The proceedings of a board of inquiry should not be produced before a court-martial. 2. At the discretion of the convening authority before trial and of the judge advocate during trial, minutes of evidence taken at a board of inquiry (but not other portions of the minutes such as findings and recommendations) may be supplied to the accused or his friend upon request. Such requests should normally be granted unless the convening authority or judge advocate considers that the interests of public safety, the defence of the realm, the efficiency of the Service or the attainment of justice would be damaged by such disclosure. In no circumstances are such minutes to be released from naval custody for examination by the defence, and the appropriate authority may impose such further conditions (e.g. disclosure of portions of the evidence only, restrictions upon the persons to whom access is allowed) as he may deem to be required by the above-mentioned considerations. When the charge is one of making false statements before a board of inquiry the accused must always be provided with at least the relevant portions of the minutes of evidence. 3. Any refusal to grant access or any special conditions attached to the granting of access to the minutes of evidence are to be reported in forwarding the minutes of proceedings of the trial. 2308. Civilian witnesses. Civilian witnesses attending a board of inquiry are to be paid so far as may be possible at the rates prescribed in Article 2235 (B.R. 11, Article 472b), but as their attendance is voluntary it may be necessary for the rate of payment, if any, to be arranged beforehand. 2309. Inter-service representation on Boards or Courts of Inquiry. Where it appears that a board of inquiry should be convened to investigate a matter in which personnel or equipment of the Army and/or R.A.F. are concerned, it is open to both the naval Administrative Authority and to the military or air authorities concerned to convene a board or court of inquiry. 2. Where it appears to the authorities concerned that such a matter can most profitably be investigated by a board or court of inquiry consisting of officers of more than one service, the naval Administrative Authority has discretion to nominate, with the consent of the proper military and/or air authorities, one or more Army and/or R.A.F. officers to be members of a naval board of inquiry; or, at the request of the military or air authorities, to permit the attendance of one or more naval officers at an Army or R.A.F. court of inquiry; provided that the president of any such board or court shall be a member of the service convening the board or court. If, however, the respective authorities are unable to agree without delay that one board or court can adequately investigate the matter, the naval Administrative Authority should proceed independently. 3. Where Army or R.A.F. officers are nominated to naval boards of inquiry, or naval officers to Army or R.A.F. courts of inquiry, those officers are in the event of disagreement entitled to make separate reports. Any such separate reports should be forwarded to the convening authority with the proceedings of the board or court. A copy of the proceedings, including any separate report, should in all cases be forwarded by the convening authority to the other service authority or authorities concerned. BOARDS OF INQUIRY AND NAVAL COURTS SECTION II. NAVAL COURTS 2321. Naval courts. Under Section 480 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 a naval court may be summoned by any officer in command of any of Her Majesty's ships on any foreign station in the following cases:
2. Officers are to be guided in regard to naval courts by B.R. 13 Instructions relating to Naval Courts, issued by the Board of Trade, whose functions in this are now exercised by the Ministry of Transport, and approved by the Foreign Office and the Admiralty. 2322. Expenses. Where there is no British Consul, the Senior Officer present is to order the expenses of naval courts to be paid by the Supply Officer on a certificate, signed by the president of the court, to the effect that the persons named thereon have performed the duties devolving upon them respectively and are entitled to be paid in accordance with the regulations. The order and certificate, with the receipts attached, are to be transmitted as vouchers to the cash account. ^ back to top ^ |