	Title
1	Short Title. 1950, No. 40
2	Interpretation.
3	Persons subject to air force law.
4	Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force.
5	Purchase of discharge.
6	Forfeiture of intoxicating liquor on conviction.
7	Answers to questions on attestation paper.
8	Being in charge of motor vehicle while under the influence of drink or a drug.
9	Penalties for offences.
10	Summary disposal of charges.
11	Punishments for non-commissioned officers.
12	Powers of commanding officer in relation to warrant officers.
13	Powers of subordinate commanders.
14	Revision of summary punishments.
15	Bringing liquor into camp.
16	Suspension of sentences.
17	Trial of persons who have ceased to be subject to air force law.
18	Courts of Inquiry.
19	Relative rank of naval, military, and air force officers.
20	Attachment of officers and airmen to other Commonwealth forces.

An Act to amend the Royal New Zealand Air Force Act 1950.

BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1 Short Title. 1950, No. 40

This Act may be cited as the Royal New Zealand Air Force Amendment Act 1954, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Act 1950 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

2 Interpretation.

(1)

Section two of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the definition of the term “air officer”, the following definition:

“‘Air Secretary’ means the Air Secretary appointed for the purposes of this Act; and includes any person for the time being authorized to exercise or perform any of the powers or functions of the Air Secretary:

(2)

Section two of the principal Act is hereby further amended by repealing the definition of the term “enemy”, and substituting the following definition:

“‘Enemy’ includes all persons engaged in armed operations against any New Zealand or allied force; and also includes all armed mutineers, armed rebels, armed rioters, and pirates:”.

(3)

Section two of the principal Act is hereby further amended by inserting in the definition of the term “superior air force authority”, after the word “means”, the words “the Air Board or”.

(4)

Section one hundred and twenty-three of the principal Act is hereby consequentially amended by inserting in the second proviso to subsection two, after the words “superior air force authority”, the words “other than the Air Board”.

3 Persons subject to air force law.

Section four of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraph (f) of subsection one, and substituting the following paragraph:

“(f)

All persons not otherwise subject to this Act who—

“(i)

Are attached to or employed by or carry out duties which necessitate their accompanying the Air Force or any portion thereof when on active service; or

“(ii)

Are dependants of any person who is subject to this Act and accompany that person when he is on active service outside New Zealand.”

4 Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force.

(1)

The principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

(a)

By omitting from paragraph (a) of subsection one of section four the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”:

(b)

By omitting from paragraph (d) of the same subsection the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”:

(c)

By omitting from subsection one of section six the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”:

(d)

By omitting from subsection six of section six the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”:

(e)

By omitting from subsection two of section nine the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”:

(f)

By omitting from section ten the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”:

(g)

By omitting from section twelve the words “Women’s Auxiliary Air Force”, and substituting the words “Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force”.

(2)

All references to the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force in any other Act or in any regulations, rules, order, or other enactment, or in any Air Board Order, commission, appointment, agreement, deed, instrument, application, notice, or other document shall hereafter be read as references to the Women’s Royal New Zealand Air Force.

5 Purchase of discharge.

Section eleven of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following subsection as subsection two thereof:

“(2)

Any amount payable by any officer or airman under subsection one of this section shall be in addition to any amount payable by him to the Crown under any bond, agreement, or contract for any special purpose.”

6 Forfeiture of intoxicating liquor on conviction.

Section forty of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following subsection as subsection two thereof:

“(2)

Where any person is convicted of an offence under subsection one of this section, the liquor in respect of which the offence was committed, together with the vessels containing the liquor, shall be deemed to be forfeited to the Crown, and may be disposed of by public auction or private contract as the Air Secretary directs, and the proceeds of the sale shall be paid into the Public Account.”

7 Answers to questions on attestation paper.

Section fifty-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in paragraph (a), after the words “put to him”, the words “by or”:

8 Being in charge of motor vehicle while under the influence of drink or a drug.

Section sixty of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (b) the words “while in a state of intoxication”, and substituting the words “while under the influence of drink or a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the motor vehicle”.

9 Penalties for offences.

(1)

Section sixty-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from paragraph (b) the words “or such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned”:

(2)

Section one hundred and twenty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

(a)

By inserting in subsection one, after the words “by the said Court-martial”, the words “or, if that punishment is death awarded for the offence of murder, then for such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned”:

(b)

By inserting in subsection two, after the words “by the said Court-martial”, the words “or, if that punishment is death awarded for the offence of murder, then for such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned”:

10 Summary disposal of charges.

Section seventy-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection five the words “one of the minor punishments”, and substituting the words “one or more of the minor punishments”.

11 Punishments for non-commissioned officers.

Section seventy-eight of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

(a)

By omitting from subsection two the words “this Act”, and substituting the words “this section”:

(b)

By omitting from subsection three the words “temporary or” wherever those words occur.

12 Powers of commanding officer in relation to warrant officers.

Section seventy-nine of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing the proviso, and substituting the following proviso:

“Provided that an airman who holds the acting rank of warrant officer may be ordered by his Commanding officer (for an offence or for any other reason) to revert to the rank (whether substantive or temporary) which he was holding at the time of his appointment to acting rank.”

13 Powers of subordinate commanders.

Section eighty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to the proviso to subsection one the following paragraph:

“(d)

Admonition.”

14 Revision of summary punishments.

Section eighty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:

(a)

By inserting in subsection one, after the word “illegal”, the words “or if the finding involved in the award appears to the Air Board or to such a superior officer to involve substantial injustice to the accused”:

(b)

By omitting from subsection four the words “on active service”, and substituting the words “the Air Member for Personnel where the charge is dealt with in New Zealand and, where the charge is dealt with outside New Zealand,”:

(c)

By omitting from subsection four the words “in the field”, and substituting the words “to which the accused for the time being belongs”.

15 Bringing liquor into camp.

(1)

Section ninety-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection two, and substituting the following subsection:

“(2)

Any officer or non-commissioned officer, with or without persons under his command, may—

“(a)

Enter into or upon and search any ship, boat, vessel, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle of any kind, hovering about or approaching, or that may have hovered about or approached any such camp, barrack, station, or other place as aforesaid; and

“(b)

Detain any person who he reasonably suspects has committed a breach of any of the provisions of subsection one of this section, and search any parcel, package, case, bag, luggage, jar, bottle, vessel, or other container in his possession; and

“(c)

If any intoxicating liquor is found as the result of any such search, seize the liquor, together with the vessels containing the liquor, unless it is for delivery to any such canteen or duly authorized mess as aforesaid or for delivery to any premises occupied as married quarters.”

(2)

Section ninety-two of the principal Act is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:

“(4)

Any liquor seized under the authority of this section shall, on the conviction of any person of an offence under this section in respect of that liquor, together with the vessels containing the liquor, be deemed to be forfeited to the Crown, and may be disposed of by public auction or private contract as the Air Secretary directs, and the proceeds of the sale shall be paid into the Public Account.”

16 Suspension of sentences.

(1)

Section one hundred and twenty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection one, and substituting the following subsections:

“(1)

Where an airman is sentenced to imprisonment or detention, the confirming authority to whom the sentence is submitted for confirmation may, when confirming the sentence, direct that the airman be not committed to prison or detention barracks until the orders of a superior air force authority have been obtained.

“(1a)

A superior air force authority may in the case of an airman so sentenced—

“(a)

Direct that the airman shall not be committed to prison or detention barracks until the orders of the superior air force authority have been obtained; or

“(b)

Suspend the sentence, whether or not the airman has already been committed to prison or detention barracks.”

(2)

Section one hundred and twenty-five of the principal Act is hereby further amended as follows:

(a)

By inserting in subsection three, after the words “this section”, the words “or under subsection three of section one hundred and twenty-three of this Act”:

(b)

By inserting in subsection four, after the words “this section”, the words “or under subsection three of section one hundred and twenty-three of this Act”:

(c)

By inserting in subsection five, after the words “this section”, the words “or under subsection three of section one hundred and twenty-three of this Act”:

(d)

By inserting in subsection six, after the words “this section”, the words “or under subsection three of section one hundred and twenty-three of this Act”.

17 Trial of persons who have ceased to be subject to air force law.

Section one hundred and twenty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in the proviso to subsection one, after the words “after he has ceased to be subject to this Act”, the words “or unless the offence was committed outside New Zealand and is an offence which when committed in New Zealand is punishable by the law of New Zealand and the Attorney-General consents to the trial”.

18 Courts of Inquiry.

Section one hundred and thirty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding to subsection two the following proviso:

“Provided that, where in the opinion of the authority assembling the Court any of the matters to be referred to it concerns any part of the Naval Forces or the Army, that authority may, with the consent of the proper naval or army authority, appoint one or more naval officers or one or more army officers, as the case may require, to be members of the Court, but in any such case an air force officer shall be the President.”

19 Relative rank of naval, military, and air force officers.

Section one hundred and forty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection four the words “this section”, and substituting the words “this Act”.

20 Attachment of officers and airmen to other Commonwealth forces.

Section one hundred and fifty of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in subsection two, after the word “airman”, the words “of the Territorial Air Force or the Air Force Reserve”.

Royal New Zealand Air Force Amendment Act 1954