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Court Martial and Defence Force Magistrate Rules 2026
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Administered by
Department of Defence
This item is authorised by the following title:
Defence Force Discipline Act 1982
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F2026L01344
02 October 2026
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Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Repeal
4 Authority
5 Interpretation
6 Cases not covered by the Act, these Rules or the regulations
7 Summons to accused person
8 Service of summons to appear
9 Instrument for purposes of section 194A of the Act
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Part 2 Charge sheets and charges
10 Charge sheets
11 Charges
12 How charges to be construed
13 Amendment of charge sheets by judge advocate or Defence Force magistrate
14 Withdrawal of charge
15 Limitation of publication of complainant’s name in charge sheet
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Part 3 Disclosure obligations
16 Disclosure of sensitive personal information
17 Inspection prior to release of sensitive information
18 Expert evidence
19 Disclosure and notification by the Director of Military Prosecutions
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Part 4 Witnesses
20 Securing appearance of witness on behalf of accused person
21 Exclusion of witness from tribunal hearing room
22 Examination of witness
23 Calling and recalling witnesses
24 Witnesses to reply forthwith
25 Expenses for witnesses
26 Right of a person to make applications in proceedings
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Part 5 Registrar
27 Registrar may liaise with certain persons
28 Registrar may consult with services or groups about conduct of proceedings
29 Registrar may consult with services or groups about administrative support for trial proceedings
30 Order referring charge or case to Defence Force magistrate
31 Registrar to provide certain documents
32 Inspection of exhibits before trial
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Part 6 Courts Martial
33 Functions of President
34 Functions of judge advocate
35 Manner of voting of court martial
36 Objections to members of court martial
37 Swearing of court martial
38 Alternative court martial members
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Part 7 Defence Force magistrate
39 Functions of Defence Force magistrate
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Part 8 Pre-trial proceedings
40 Application for procedural hearing
41 Nature of procedural hearings
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Part 9 Evidence
42 Time for service of previous representation/tendency/coincidence notice
43 Notice of previous representation/tendency/coincidence evidence
44 Affidavit—form
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Part 10 Trial Provisions
45 Employment of, objections to, and swearing of recorders and interpreters
46 Administration of oaths and affirmations
47 Application by accused person or prosecuting officer for adjournment of proceedings
48 Right of accused person and prosecuting officer to argue and adduce evidence on matter to be decided
49 Pleading to charges and arraignment
50 Opening address by prosecution
51 Opening address by the defence after opening address by the prosecution
52 Judge advocate or Defence Force magistrate may direct substitution of plea of not guilty
53 Submission of no case to answer
54 Opening address by defence
55 Closing addresses
56 Summing up
57 Evidence as to material facts after conviction on plea of guilty
58 Victim impact statement
59 Service impact statement
60 Convicted person’s record etc and plea in mitigation
61 Imposition of punishment or order in case of breach of undertaking of good behaviour
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Part 11 Record of proceedings and exhibits
62 Record of proceedings before court martial or Defence Force magistrate
63 Inspection of record of proceedings etc during trial
64 Loss of original record of proceedings
65 Exhibits
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Part 12 Miscellaneous provisions
66 Relief from Rules
67 Transitional Rules
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Schedule 1 Statement of offences
Part 1 Offences against Defence Force Discipline Act 1982
Part 2 Offences against Defence Force Discipline Regulations 2018
Part 3 Offences against Criminal Code Act 1995
Schedule 2 Form of charge sheet
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Schedule 3 Form of summons
Part 1 Form of summons – accused person
Part 2 Form of summons – ADF member
Part 3 Form of summons – civilian
Part 4 Form of summons to produce documents or things – ADF member
Part 5 Form of summons to produce documents or things – civilian
Part 6 Form of summons to produce documents or things – Defence Secretary
Part 7 Privacy Notice for summons
Schedule 4 Form of tendency notice
Schedule 5 Form of coincidence notice
Schedule 6 Form of previous representation notice
Schedule 7 Affidavit—Form