95Avoidance of delay after arrest

95  Avoidance of delay after arrest

 (1) Where a member of the Defence Force:

 (a) arrests a person under this Act; or

 (b) receives into his or her custody a person who has been arrested under this Act;

the member shall, as soon as practicable, take all reasonable steps in the member’s power to ensure that the arrested person is delivered into the custody of a commanding officer.

 (2) Where a person has been delivered into the custody of a commanding officer, the commanding officer or an officer authorized, in writing, by the commanding officer shall, unless the person has been arrested in execution of a warrant issued under section 88, before the expiration of the period of 24 hours after the person has been delivered into the custody of the commanding officer, either charge the person with a service offence or release the person from custody.

 (3) Where a person is charged with a service offence in accordance with subsection (2), the commanding officer shall forthwith cause a copy of the charge to be given to the person.

 (4) Where a person is charged with a service offence in accordance with subsection (2), the commanding officer shall, as soon as practicable, cause proceedings to be commenced for dealing with the charge and, if no such proceedings are commenced before the expiration of a period of 48 hours after the person has been delivered into the custody of the commanding officer, the commanding officer shall, at the expiration of that period, report, in writing, to a superior authority and the Director of Military Prosecutions his or her reasons for not causing those proceedings to be commenced.

 (5) Where a person remains in the custody of the commanding officer for a period of 8 days or more without the charge against the person having been dealt with, the commanding officer shall, at the expiration of the first 8 day period of such custody and, thereafter, at the expiration of each subsequent 8 day period of such custody, report, in writing, to a superior authority and the Director of Military Prosecutions his or her reasons for the delay in dealing with the charge.

 (6) For the purposes of subsection (5), a charge that is dealt with by a summary authority by referring it to another summary authority shall be deemed not to have been dealt with.

 (7) If due to the exigencies of service it is not reasonably practicable for the commanding officer to make a report in accordance with subsection (5) on the date on which that report is due, he or she shall make that report as soon as it becomes reasonably practicable to do so and shall state in that report why it was not reasonably practicable to report on the due date.

 (8) Where a person remains in custody for 30 days and the charge against the person has not been dealt with within the meaning of subsection (5), the superior authority to whom a report under subsection (5) or subsection (7) has been made shall notify the Director of Military Prosecutions and the Chief of the Defence Force, a service chief or an authorized officer (other than an authorized officer who is a commanding officer) of the reasons why the charge has not been dealt with.