S.I. No. 611/2024 - Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) (Amendment) Rules 2024

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 8th November, 2024.

I, MICHEÁL MARTIN, Minister for Defence, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 240 of the Defence Act 1954 (No. 18 of 1954), hereby make the following rules:

1. These Rules may be cited as the Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) (Amendment) Rules 2024.

2. The Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) 2019 and 2023 and these Rules may be cited together as the Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) 2019 to 2024 and shall be construed together as one.

3. Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) 2019 ( S.I. No. 555 of 2019 ) is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for the definition of “investigating officer”:

““investigating officer” means a commanding officer or an officer appointed in accordance with section 177 of the Act;”, and

(b) by substituting the following for the definition of “prosecutor”:

““prosecutor” means the Director and includes a court-martial prosecutor appointed in accordance with section 184F (1) of the Act and counsel instructed by or representing either;”.

4. These Rules shall come into operation on 6 November 2024.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

5 November, 2024.

MICHEÁL MARTIN,

Minister for Defence.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

Following on from the enactment of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2024 , these Rules amend the definitions in the Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) 2019 for “investigating officer” and “prosecutor” in line with the provisions of that Act.