Section 54
of Royal Brunei Armed Forces Act
Section 54
Any person subject to military law who is guilty of any act or neglect in flying, or in the use of any aircraft or in relation to any aircraft or aircraft material, which causes or is likely to cause loss of life or bodily injury to any person, shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment or any less punishment provided by this Act:
Provided that if the offender has not acted wilfully or with wilful neglect he shall not be liable to be imprisoned for more than 2 years.
Inaccurate certification of ships and aircraft 55.
Any person subject to military law who makes or signs, without having ensured its accuracy —
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(a)
a certificate relating to any matter affecting the seagoing or fighting efficiency of any ship or naval material of His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan; or
(b)
any certificate relating to any aircraft or aircraft material of
His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Low flying 56.
Any person subject to military law who, being the pilot of an aircraft of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, flies it at a height less than such height as may be provided under or by virtue of any regulations made under this Act, except —
(a)
while taking off or alighting; or
(b)
in such other circumstances as may be so provided, shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act:
Provided that where a pilot flies an aircraft in contravention of this section on the orders of some other person who is in command of the aircraft, that other person shall be treated for the purposes of this section as having been the pilot of, and flying, the aircraft at the material time.
Annoyance by flying 57.
Any person subject to military law who, being the pilot of an aircraft of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, flies it so as to cause, or to be likely to cause, unnecessary annoyance to any person shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to dismissal from the service of His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan or any less punishment provided by this Act:
Provided that where a pilot flies an aircraft in contravention of this section on the orders of some other person who is in command of the aircraft, that other person shall be treated for the purposes of this section as having been the pilot of, and flying, the aircraft at the material time.
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Offences relating to, and by, persons in custody
Permitting escape and unlawful release of prisoners 58.
(1)
Any person subject to military law who wilfully allows to escape any person who is committed to his charge, or whom it is his duty to guard, shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment or any less punishment provided by this Act.
(2)
Any person subject to military law who —
(a)
without proper authority releases any person who is committed to his charge; or
(b)
without reasonable excuse allows to escape any person who is committed to his charge, or whom it is his duty to guard, shall on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Resistance to arrest 59.
(1)
Any person subject to military law who, being concerned in any quarrel or disorder —
(a)
refuses to obey any officer who orders him into arrest; or
(b)
strikes or otherwise uses violence to, or offers violence to, any such officer, is guilty of an offence against this section whether or not the officer is his superior officer.
(2)
Any person subject to military law who strikes or otherwise uses violence to, or offers violence to, any person, whether subject to military law or not, whose duty it is to arrest him or in whose custody he is, is guilty of an offence against this Act.
(3)
Any person guilty of an offence against this section shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
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Escape from confinement 60.
Any person subject to military law who escapes from arrest, prison or other lawful custody (whether military or not), shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Offences in relation to courts-martial
Offences in relation to courts-martial 61.
(1)
Any person subject to military law who —
(a)
having been duly summoned or ordered to attend as a witness before a court-martial, fails to comply with the summons or order;
(b)
refuses to swear on oath when duly required by a court-martial to do so;
(c)
refuses to produce any document in his custody or under his control which a court-martial has lawfully required him to produce;
(d)
when a witness, refuses to answer any question which a court-martial has lawfully required him to answer;
(e)
wilfully insults any person, being a member of a court-martial or a witness or any other person whose duty it is to attend on or before the court while that person is acting as a member thereof or is so attending, or wilfully insults any such person while that person is going to or returning from the proceedings of the court; or
(f)
wilfully interrupts the proceedings of a court-martial or otherwise misbehaves before the court, shall, on conviction by a court-martial, other than the court in relation to which the offence was committed, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), where an offence against that subsection is committed in relation to any court-martial held in pursuance of this Act, that court, if of opinion that it is expedient that the offender should be dealt with summarily by the court instead of being
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brought to trial before another court-martial, may by order under the hand of the president, sentence the offender —
(a)
if he is an officer, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 days, or to a fine not exceeding the amount of his pay for 28 days
(a day’s pay being taken for this purpose as the gross amount which is, or would apart from any forfeiture be, issuable to the offender in respect of the day on which the order is made);
(b)
in any other case, to imprisonment or detention for such a term, or to such a fine, as mentioned in paragraph (a).
Miscellaneous offences
Unauthorised disclosure of information 62.
(1)
Any person subject to military law who without lawful authority discloses or purports to disclose, whether orally, in writing, by signal or any other means whatsoever, information relating to any matter upon which information would or might be useful to an enemy shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
(2)
It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section that he did not know and had no reasonable cause to believe that the information would or might be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy.
Making of false statements on enlistment 63.
Any person who, when appearing before a Magistrate or an Attesting
Officer for the purpose of being attested in pursuance of Part 3, has knowingly made a false answer to any question contained in the attestation paper and put to him by or by the direction of the Magistrate or the Attesting
Officer, as the case may be, shall if he has since become and remains subject to military law be liable, on conviction by court-martial, to imprisonment for 3 months or any less punishment provided by this Act.
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Falsification of document 64.
Any person subject to military law who —
(a)
makes, signs or makes an entry in any report, return, pay list or certificate or other official document, being a document or entry which is to his knowledge false in a material particular;
(b)
alters any report, return, pay list or certificate or other official document, or alters any entry in such a document, so that the document or entry is to his knowledge false in a material particular, or suppresses, defaces or makes away with any such document or entry which it is his duty to preserve or produce; or
(c)
with the intent to deceive, fails to make any entry in any such document, shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Offences against morale 65.
Any person subject to military law who spreads (whether orally, in writing, by signal or otherwise) reports relating to operations of the Armed
Forces or the Reserve Regiment or of any part thereof, or of any forces co-operating therewith, or of any part of those forces, being reports likely to create despondency or unnecessary alarm shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Scandalous conduct by officers 66.
Any officer subject to military law who behaves in a scandalous manner unbecoming the character of an officer shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to dismissal from the service of His Majesty the Sultan and
Yang Di-Pertuan with or without disgrace.
Ill-treatment of personnel of inferior rank 67.
If —
(a)
any officer subject to military law strikes or otherwise ill-treats any officer subject thereto of inferior rank or less seniority or
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any warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or soldier subject to military law; or
(b)
any warrant officer or non-commissioned officer subject to military law strikes or otherwise ill-treats any person subject to military law, being a warrant officer or non-commissioned officer of inferior rank or less seniority or a soldier, he shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2
years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Disgraceful conduct 68.
Any person subject to military law who is guilty of disgraceful conduct of a cruel, indecent or unnatural kind shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Conduct to prejudice of good order and military discipline 69.
Any person subject to military law who is guilty of any conduct or neglect to the prejudice of good order and military discipline shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or any less punishment provided by this Act.
Attempts to commit military offences 70.
Any person subject to military law who attempts to commit an offence against any of the foregoing provisions of this Part shall, on conviction by court-martial, be liable to the like punishment as for that offence:
Provided that if the offence is one punishable by death, he shall not be liable to any greater punishment than imprisonment.
Aiding and abetting etc. or inciting, commission of military offences 71.
(1)
Any person subject to military law who abets an offence against any of the foregoing provisions of this Part shall himself be guilty of the offence in question, and shall be liable to be charged, tried and punished accordingly.
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(2)
A person may be guilty by virtue of subsection (1) of an offence against section 64 whether or not he knows the nature of the document in question.
(3)
Section 107 (abetment of thing), section 108 (relating to the abetment of an offence) and section 108A (abetment in Brunei Darussalam of an offence outside it) of the Penal Code (Chapter 22) apply with the necessary modifications, in relation to an offence against any of the foregoing provisions of this Part as if such an offence were an offence under the Penal Code.
Civil offences
Civil offences 72.
(1)
Any person subject to military law who commits a civil offence, whether in Brunei Darussalam or elsewhere, is guilty of an offence against this section.
(2)
In this Act, “civil offence” means any act or omission punishable by the law of Brunei Darussalam or which, if committed in
Brunei Darussalam, would be punishable by that law; and in this Act “the corresponding civil offence” means the civil offence the commission of which constitutes the offence against this section.
(3)
A person convicted by court-martial of an offence against this section shall be liable to suffer any punishment or punishments which a civil court could award for the corresponding civil offence, if committed in Brunei
Darussalam being a punishment or punishments provided by this Act, or such punishment, less than the maximum punishment which a civil court could so award, as is so provided.
(4)
A person shall not be charged with an offence against this section committed in Brunei Darussalam if the corresponding civil offence is an offence punishable under any provision of Chapter VI (offences against
State) of the Penal Code (Chapter 22) or under section 302
(murder), section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), section 306 (abetment of suicide) or section 376 (rape) of the Penal Code
(Chapter 22).
(5)
Where the corresponding civil offence is punishable under section 302 (murder) or section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to
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murder) of the Penal Code (Chapter 22), an offence against this section is deemed, for the purpose of subsection (4), to have been committed at the place of the commission of the act or occurrence of the neglect which caused the death, irrespective of the place of death.
(6)
A person shall not without the consent in writing of the Attorney
General be charged with an offence against this section committed in Brunei
Darussalam if the offence affects the person or property of a person who was not subject to military law at the time the offence was committed.
(7)
A person subject to military law may be charged with an offence against this section notwithstanding that he could on the same facts be charged with an offence against any other provision of this Part.
Punishments available to courts-martial
Scale of punishment and supplementary provisions 73.
(1)
The punishments which may be awarded by sentence of a court-martial under this Act are, subject to the following provisions of this section, as follows —
(a)
death;
(b)
imprisonment;
(c)
dismissal with disgrace from the service of His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan;
(d)
dismissal from the service of His Majesty the Sultan and
Yang Di-Pertuan;
(e)
detention for a term not exceeding 2 years;
(f)
forfeiture of seniority for a specified term or otherwise;
(g)
reduction to the ranks or any less reduction in rank;
(h)
fine;
(i)
severe reprimand;
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(j)
reprimand;
(k)
in the case of an offence which has occasioned any expense, loss or damage, stoppages; and
(l)
such minor punishments as may from time to time be prescribed, and references in this Act to any punishment provided by this Act are, subject to the limitation imposed in any particular case by the addition of the word “less”, references to any one or more of those punishments.
(2)
For the purposes of this Part, a punishment specified in any paragraph of subsection (1) shall be treated as less than the punishments specified in the paragraphs preceding that paragraph and greater than those specified in the paragraphs following it:
Provided that detention is not deemed to be a less punishment than imprisonment if the term of detention is longer than the term of imprisonment.
(3)
Subsection (1) shall have effect in relation to a convicted person who is —
(a)
an officer, with the omission of paragraphs (e), (g) and (l);
(b)
a warrant officer, with the omission of paragraphs (f) and
(l)
;
(c)
a non-commissioned officer, with the omission of paragraph (f); and
(d)
a soldier, with the omission of paragraphs (f), (g), (i) and
(j)
.
(4)
A person sentenced by a court-martial to imprisonment shall also be sentenced either to dismissal with disgrace from the service of His
Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan or to dismissal from such service:
Provided that if the court-martial fails to give effect to this subsection, their sentence shall not be invalid, but is deemed to include a sentence of dismissal from the service of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan.
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(5)
A warrant officer or non-commissioned officer sentenced by a court-martial to imprisonment, to dismissal from the service of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan (whether or not with disgrace), or to detention, shall also be reduced to the ranks:
Provided that, if the court-martial fails to give effect to this subsection, their sentence shall not be invalid, but is deemed to include a sentence of reduction to the ranks.
(6)
The amount of a fine that may be awarded by a court-martial —
(a)
except in the case of an offence against section 72, shall not exceed the amount of the offender’s pay for 28 days or, where the offence was committed on active service, 56 days; and
(b)
in the excepted case of an offence against section 72 —
(i)
where the civil offence constituting an offence against that section is punishable by a fine, shall not exceed the maximum amount of the fine which the Magistrate is authorised to award by virtue of any written law other than a notification by the Chief Justice conferring special jurisdiction upon the Magistrate pursuant to section 11(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code
(Chapter 22); and
(ii)
where that civil offence is punishable only by the High
Court and is so punishable by a fine, shall not exceed the maximum amount of the fine;
and for the purposes of this subsection, a day’s pay, as regards a person found guilty of an offence, is deemed to be the gross pay that is, or would (apart from any forfeiture or deduction) be, issuable to that person in respect of the day on which punishment is awarded in respect of the offence.
Arrest
Power to arrest offenders 74.
(1)
Any person subject to military law found committing an offence against any provision of this Act, or alleged to have committed or reasonably suspected of having committed any such offence, may be arrested in accordance with the following provisions of this section.
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(2)
An officer may be arrested by an officer of superior rank, or, if engaged in a quarrel or disorder, by an officer of any rank.
(3)
A warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or soldier may be arrested by an officer, warrant officer or non-commissioned officer:
Provided that a person shall not be arrested by virtue of this subsection except by a person of superior rank.
(4)
A provost officer, or any member of the Armed Forces legally exercising authority under a provost officer or on his behalf, may arrest any member of the Armed Forces:
Provided that an officer shall not be arrested by virtue of this subsection except on the order of another officer.
(5)
The power of arrest given to any person by this section may
(subject to the provisions of General Orders) be exercised either personally or by ordering into arrest the person to be arrested or by giving orders for that person’s arrest.
(6)
Any person making an arrest personally shall actually touch or confine the body of the person being arrested unless there is a submission to the arrest by word or action.
(7)
Every person authorised to make an arrest under this section may use such force as is reasonably necessary for that purpose.
(8)
Where a person forcibly resists an attempt to arrest him or attempts to evade the arrest, the person arresting him or any other person assisting him, may use all means necessary to make the arrest.
Powers of investigation [S 2/2006]