111BAccused person may elect to be tried by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate—election before commencement of trial

111B  Accused person may elect to be tried by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate—election before commencement of trial

 (1) At the commencement of dealing with a charge against an accused person, the summary authority must give the person an opportunity to elect, in accordance with section 111C, to have the charge tried by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate.

Note 1: If the summary authority is dealing with an accused person in respect of 2 or more charges (the linked charges) that arise from the same facts or circumstances, and the accused person makes an election to have one or more of the linked charges tried by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate, the summary authority must refer that charge or those charges and, unless the Director of Military Prosecutions agrees otherwise, any other linked charge to the Director of Military Prosecutions: see subsection 111C(3).

Note 2: If the summary authority is dealing with 2 or more accused persons together, the summary authority must give each accused person an opportunity to make an election in accordance with section 111C.

 (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to:

 (a) a charge of a prescribed offence; or

 (b) a charge of any other service offence that:

 (i) arises from the same facts and circumstances as a prescribed offence; and

 (ii) is being dealt with together with that offence; or

 (c) a charge of a Schedule 1A offence (other than a Schedule 1A offence covered by paragraph (b)), unless the accused person is:

 (i) an officer of or below the rank of rear admiral but above the rank of lieutenant commander; or

 (ii) an officer of or below the rank of major‑general but above the rank of major; or

 (iii) an officer of or below the rank of air vice‑marshal but above the rank of squadron leader.

 (3) The accused person must be given an opportunity to obtain legal advice in relation to the election if a legal officer is reasonably available to give such advice.

111C  Decision by accused person whether to elect to be tried by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate—decision before commencement of trial

When election decision must be made

 (1) If, under section 111B, a summary authority gives an accused person an opportunity to elect to have a charge tried by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate, the accused person must decide whether or not to make the election:

 (a) within 24 hours after the opportunity to make the election is given; or

 (b) if the exigencies of service do not permit the person to make the decision within that time—within such longer period (not exceeding 14 days) as the summary authority allows.