Ministry Of Defence
Introduction
The MCS works closely with, but is independent of, the Office of the Judge Advocate General, the Service Prosecuting Authority which is equivalent to the Crown Prosecution Service, the Service chains of command, Service and MOD personnel branches, the National Probation Service, the victim and witness services and military court advocates.
Service Court proceedings are publicised over a two week assize period. Military Court listings. All hearings are open to the public in exactly the same way as civilian courts, unless otherwise directed by the presiding judge.
Service Court results are now published on a monthly basis. Court Martial Results.
Further information on the Court Martial, Summary Appeal Court and the Service Civilian Court can be found in the Manual of Service Law JSP 830.
Latest COVID messaging from the Military Court Service
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People with symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19, and a high temperature or those who do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities should stay at home and avoid contact with other people.
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Anyone with a positive COVID-19 test result are advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days, which is when they are most infectious.
If you have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to attend a hearing,contact the court immediately. The court will consider alternative arrangements and individual requests on a case by case basis.
If youre athigher risk from COVID-19 and need to attend a hearing,contact the court to let them know so we can keep you safe.
Bulford Military Court Centre - Email: mcs-bul-groupmailbox@mod.gov.uk
Catterick Military Court Centre - Email: cmc-groupmailbox@mod.gov.uk
Organisation
The MCS is independent of the Service chains of command and is staffed by civil servants employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) working from both court centres.
To ensure independence, the Director MCS is appointed by the Defence Council as the Court Administration Officer (CAO). The CAO has a legislated function to give notice of court proceedings and to specify lay members of the court (equivalent to jury selection).
The Court Martial Appeal Court recently clarified the respective roles of the Judge Advocate and the CAO in relation to the constitution of the Court Martial, concluding that the Judge Advocates role is to give direction on the composition category, while the CAO is responsible for specifying individual members. These duties are conducted in accordance with the Armed Forces Act 2006 and related Statutory Instruments.
TheCAOis a permanent member of both the Service Justice Board (SJB) and the Service Justice Executive Group (SJEG).
The Director MCS operates from the Bulford Court Centre supported by a Senior Management Team and a Court Administration Unit. Each Court Centre has a dedicated Court Officer who is directly responsible for the management of court proceedings, liaison with the Judiciary and court listings.
The current Director of the Military Court Service is Mr Cleaven Faulkner JP:
Military Court Centres
There are two permanent court centres in the UK. Bulford, Wiltshire and Catterick, North Yorkshire.
Bulford Military Court Centre
Catterick Military Court Centre
Military Court Centre information and images of our court rooms.
Due to the draw down of British Forces Germany, the permanent court centre at Sennelager has been converted for other use but has been retained as a Court Martial location should one be required. MCS have a permanent Court Martial capability at Episkopi, Cyprus.
The court system is entirely portable, with the ability for MCS to convene trials outside of the MCCs anywhere in the UK or elsewhere. The most recent examples have included Nightingale Courts at Tidworth and Catterick and overseas in Cyprus, Germany and Gibraltar.
MCS have invested in the latest Digital Audio Recording (DAR) technology to meet legal compliance for the recording of proceedings. The capability covers both the four fixed courts and two portable recording equipment sets. The Service Courts have the latest Digital Evidential Presentation System and now have the capability to support the pre-recording of evidence from victims of serious sexual assault (Section 28).
The Service Courts have a state of the art case management system called Case Center. This product is the latest version of the Crown Court system, Caselines and has been operational since September 2023. MCS are moving towards completing the last element of its digital transformation program with Board members using laptops to view evidence, via the Case Center Jury Portal, during proceedings.
Tri-Service Court Martial Boards
From 4 September 2023, the Service Courts commenced a 6-month pilot of Tri-Service boards, moving away from a single service construct. Director MCS will present the pilot findings to the Service Justice Board in June 2024.
Procedure
The Deputy Director MCS oversees the delivery of the MCS assize programme. Cases are listed within assize sessions, held at the Military Court Centres run by MCS staff. However, a particularly lengthy or complex Court Martial or Service Civilian Court case may be listed as a stand-alone outside the assize sessions. Where possible the volume of cases is equally split between both Court Centres.
At the listing phase of case manag