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Visiting Forces Act 1939

NIUE LAWS
LEGISLATION AS AT DECEMBER 2006

VISITING FORCES ACT 1939

1939/36 (NZ) – 30 August 1940

1 Short title
2 Interpretation
3 Discipline and internal administration of
visiting forces
4 Relations of visiting forces to the civil
power and civilians
5 Deserters from overseas forces
6 [Repealed]
7 Application of Act
8 [Repealed]
9 Limitation of penalties
10 Regulations

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To make provision with respect to forces of Her Majesty from other parts of the Commonwealth or from a colony when visiting New Zealand, and with respect to the exercise of command and discipline when forces of Her Majesty from different parts of the Commonwealth are serving together, and with respect to the attachment of members of one such force to another such force, and with respect to deserters from such forces

1 Short title

This is the Visiting Forces Act 1939.

2 Interpretation

In this Act –

"court" includes a service court of inquiry and any officer of a visiting force who is empowered by the law of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs to review the proceedings of a service court, or to investigate charges, or himself to dispose of charges; and

"sentence" shall be construed accordingly;

"forces" includes reserve and auxiliary forces;

"home forces" means the naval, military and air forces of Her Majesty raised in New Zealand; and "home force" includes any body, contingent, or detachment of any of the home forces, wherever serving;

"internal administration", in relation to any visiting force, includes the administration of the property of a deceased member of the force;

"member", in relation to a visiting force, includes any person who is by law of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs subject to the naval, military, or air force law of the part of the Commonwealth and who, being a member of another force, is attached to the visiting force or, being a civilian employed in connection with the visiting force, entered into the engagement outside New Zealand;

"part of the Commonwealth" means any country which Cabinet by regulation declares to be part of the Commonwealth for the purposes of this Act;

"visiting force" means any body, contingent, or detachment of the naval, military, or air forces of any part of the Commonwealth which is, with the consent of the Niue Government, lawfully present in Niue.

3 Discipline and internal administration of visiting forces

(1) When a visiting force is present in Niue it shall be lawful for the naval, military, and air force courts and authorities (the "service courts" and the "service authorities") of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs to exercise within Niue in relation to members of such force in matters concerning discipline and in matters concerning the internal administration of such force all such powers as are conferred upon them by the law of that part of the Commonwealth.

(2) The members of any such service court as aforesaid exercising jurisdiction by virtue of this Act, and witnesses appearing before any such court, shall enjoy the like immunities and privileges as are enjoyed by a service court exercising jurisdiction by virtue of any enactment in force in New Zealand and by witnesses appearing before such a court.

(3)

(a) Where any sentence has, whether within or without Niue, been passed upon a member of a visiting force by a service court of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs, then for the purposes of any legal proceedings within Niue the court shall be deemed to have been properly constituted, and its proceedings shall be deemed to have been regularly conducted, and the sentence shall be deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the court and under the law of that part of the Commonwealth and, if executed according to its tenor, shall be deemed to have been lawfully executed, and any member of a visiting force who is detained in custody in pursuance of any such sentence, or pending the determination by such a service court as aforesaid of a charge brought against him, shall for the purposes of any such proceedings as aforesaid be deemed to be in lawful custody.

(b) For the purposes of any such proceedings as aforesaid a certificate under the hand of the officer commanding a visiting force that a member of that force is being detained for either of the causes aforesaid shall be conclusive evidence of the cause of his detention, but not of his being such a member, and a certificate under the hand of such an officer that the persons specified in the certificate sat as a service court of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs shall be conclusive evidence of that fact.

(4) No proceedings in respect of the pay, terms of service, or discharge of a member of a visiting force shall be entertained by any court of Niue.

(5) For the purpose of enabling such service courts and such service authorities to exercise more effectively the powers conferred upon them by this section, Cabinet, if so requested by the officer commanding a visiting force or by the Government of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs, may by general or special orders to any home force, direct the members of it to arrest members of the visiting force alleged to have been guilty of offences against the law of that part of the Commonwealth, and to hand over any person so arrested to the appropriate authorities of the visiting force.

4 Relations of visiting forces to the civil power and civilians

(1)

(a) Cabinet may by regulation authorise any Government department, Minister of the Crown, or other person in Niue to perform, at the request of such authority or officer as may be specified in the order, but subject to such limitations as may be so specified, any function in relation to a visiting force and members of it which that Department, Minister, or person performs or could perform in relation to a home force of like nature to the visiting force, or in relation to members of such a force, and for the purpose of the exercise of any such function any power exercisable by virtue of any enactment by the Department, Minister, or person in relation to a home force or members of it shall be exercisable in relation to the visiting forces and members of it.

(b) Nothing in this subsection shall authorise any interference in matters relating to discipline or to the internal administration of the force.

(2) [Repealed by 2004/270]

(3) If Cabinet by regulation so provides, members of a visiting force if sentenced by a service court of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs to penal servitude, imprisonment, or detention may, under the authority of Cabinet, given at the request of the officer commanding the visiting force, be temporarily detained in custody in prisons or detention barracks in Niue; and, if so sentenced to imprisonment, may, under the like authority, be imprisoned during the whole or any part of the term of their sentences in prisons in Niue, and Cabinet may by regulation make provision with respect to any of the following matters –

(a) The reception of such persons from, and their return to, the service authorities concerned;

(b) Their treatment while in such custody or while so imprisoned;

(c) The circumstances under which they are to be released; and

(d) The manner in which they are to be dealt with in the event of their unsoundness of mind while in such custody, or while so imprisoned.

(4) Any costs incurred in the maintenance and return of or otherwise in connection with any person dealt with under subsection (3) shall be defrayed in such manner as may with the approval of the Minister of Finance be agreed between the Minister of Defence and the Government of that part of the Commonwealth which is concerned.

(5) Subject to this subsection and subsection (6), any enactment in force in Niue which –

(a) Exempts, or provides for the exemption of, any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, machine, or apparatus of or employed for the purposes of the home forces or any of them from the operation of any enactment; or

(b) In virtue of a connection with the home forces, or any of them, confers a privilege or immunity on any person; or

(c) In virtue of such a connection excepts any property, trade, or business, in whole or in part, from the operation of any enactment, or from any tax, rate, imposition, toll, or charge; or

(d) Imposes upon any person or undertaking obligations in relation to the home forces, or any of them, or any member or service court; or

(e) Penalises misconduct by any person in relation to the home forces, or any of them, or any member or service court – shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to a visiting force as it would apply in relation to a home force of a like nature of the visiting force.

(6) Regulations made under this section may apply either generally or in relation to visiting forces from any particular part of the Commonwealth, or in relation to any particular visiting force, or in relation to any particular place.

5 Deserters from overseas forces

(1) The forces to which this section applies are such of the naval, military, and air forces of any part of the Commonwealth as Cabinet may by regulation direct.

(2) Subject to this section, the law in force in Niue relating to the apprehension of deserters and absentees without leave from a home force shall within Niue apply in relation to a deserter or an absentee without leave from any force to which this section applies (including any member of a reserve or auxiliary force who, having failed to obey a notice calling upon him to appear at any place for service, is by the law of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs, liable to the same punishment as a deserter, or to the same punishment as an absentee without leave), as they apply in relation to a deserter or absentee without leave from a home force.

(3)

(a) No person who is alleged to be a deserter from any such force as aforesaid shall be apprehended or dealt with under this section except in compliance with a specific request from the Government of that part of the Commonwealth to which the force belongs, and a person so dealt with shall be handed over to the authorities of that part of the Commonwealth at such place in Niue as may be agreed.

(b) A person who is alleged to be a deserter or absentee without leave from a visiting force may also be apprehended and dealt with under this section in compliance with a request, whether specific or general, from the officer commanding that force, and shall, if that force is still present in Niue, be handed over to the officer commanding that force at the place where the force is stationed.

(4) For the purposes of any proceedings under this section –

(a) A document purporting to be a certificate of Cabinet or of a prescribed officer that a request has been made under subsection (3) shall be admissible without proof as evidence of such a request;

(b) A document purporting to be a certificate under the hand of the officer commanding a unit or detachment of any force to which this section applies that a named and described person was at the date of the certificate a deserter, or absentee without leave, from that force shall be admissible without proof as evidence of the facts so certified.

6 [Repealed by 2004/270]

7 Application of Act

Subject to such exemptions, adaptations, and modifications as Cabinet may by regulation direct –

(a) This Act shall apply in relation to any naval, military, or air forces raised in any territory for whose international relations the Government of any part of the Commonwealth is responsible, as if those forces were part of the naval, military, or air forces of that part of the Commonwealth;

(b) This Act shall apply in relation to any naval, military, or air forces raised in the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau as if those forces were part of the home forces.

8 [Repealed by 2004/270]

9 Limitation of penalties

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorise any service court of any part of the Commonwealth to impose on a member of a visiting force in respect of any offence any penalty exceeding the penalty to which a member of the home forces would under the law of Niue be liable for a similar offence.

10 Regulations

Cabinet may make such regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, as may be deemed necessary or convenient for the purpose of giving full effect to this Act.