Armed Forces Act 2011
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| Long title | An Act to continue the Armed Forces Act 2006 (AFA 2006); to amend that Act and other enactments relating to the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence Police; to amend the Visiting Forces Act 1952; to enable judge advocates to sit in civilian courts; to repeal the Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915; and for connected purposes. |
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| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 3 Nov 2011 |
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| Relates to | Armed Forces Act 2006 |
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Status: Current legislation
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The Armed Forces Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
It is the latest in a series of Acts to provide a legislative framework for the UK Armed Forces. Apart from giving the armed forces the legal authority to exist for another five years, its major elements are establishing a requirement for the Secretary of State for Defence to make an annual report to Parliament on the implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant, some revisions to the Armed Forces Act 2006, and provisions covering the three service police forces and the Ministry of Defence Police.
Different components of what became the Armed Forces Act had different origins. There had been an existing requirement for an Armed Forces Act 'to provide the legal basis for the Armed Forces'. Under the 1688 Bill of Rights, the 'raising and keeping of a Standing Army during peacetime is against the law, unless it is with the consent of Parliament.' Given that authority for maintaining armed forces under the Armed Forces Act 2006 and its subsequent secondary legislation would run out on 8 November 2011, a new piece of Primary legislation was needed.
In the case of the 2011 Act in particular, an additional policy reason for legislation was the UK Government's previously stated commitment to put the military covenant into law: during a visit to the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in June 2010, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, had said that:
It's time for us to rewrite the Military Covenant to make sure we are doing everything we can...Whether it's the schools you send your children to, whether it's the healthcare that you expect, whether it's the fact that there should be a decent military ward for anyone who gets injured. I want all these things refreshed and renewed and written down in a new Military Covenant that's written into the law of the land.'
This formalisation of the Covenant was described by the relevant Select Committee as being the most controversial provision within a Bill that was otherwise on a 'much smaller scale' than the AFA 2006.
The long title of an Act is of significance because it forms part of the Act, and is the 'first of the elements of an Act... that can be used to find the meaning of the Act, and generally its scope.' in future legal decisions. The long title of the Armed Forces Act is 'A Bill to continue the Armed Forces Act 2006; to amend that Act and other enactments relating to the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence Police; to amend the Visiting Forces Act 1952; to enable judge advocates to sit in civilian courts; to repeal the Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915; and for connected purposes.'
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