Defence Act, 1957 (Act No. 44 of 1957) Chapter XII : Visiting and Other Forces128. Discipline and internal administration of visiting forces |
| (1) | A military court or other authority of any country may exercise within the Republic in relation to members of a visiting force of that country in matters concerning discipline and the internal administration of that force (including the administration of the property or the estate of a deceased member of that force) all such powers as are conferred upon such court or authority by the law of that country. |
| (2) | The provisions which under the laws of the Republic are applicable in connection with the powers, immunities and privileges of a military court of the Republic and in connection with proceedings before such a court shall, in so far as they can be applied, be applicable also with reference to a military court of a country exercising jurisdiction by virtue of this Act. |
(3)
| (a) | Where any sentence has, whether within or without the Republic, been passed upon a member of a visiting force by a military court of any country, that country shall, for the purposes of any legal proceedings within the Republic, be deemed to have been properly constituted and its proceedings shall be deemed to have been regularly conducted and the sentence shall be deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the court and in accordance with the law of that country, and if executed according to the tenor thereof shall be deemed to have been lawfully executed, and any member of such visiting force who is detained in custody in pursuance of any such sentence, or pending the determination by a military court of that country of a charge brought custody. |
| (b) | For the purposes of such proceedings a certificate under the hand of the officer in command of a visiting force that a member of that force is being detained for either of the causes aforesaid, shall be conclusive evidence of the cause of his detention, but not of his being such a member, and a certificate under the hand of such an officer that the persons specified in the certificate sat as a military court of the country to which that force belongs, shall be conclusive evidence of that fact. |
| (4) | No proceedings in respect of pay, terms of service or discharge of a member of a visiting force shall be entertained by any court of the Republic. |
| (5) | For the purpose of enabling the military courts and military authorities of any country to exercise more effectively the powers conferred upon them by this section, the Minister may, if so requested by the government of that country or by the officer in command of a visiting force, from time to time by general or special orders to the South African Defence Force direct the members thereof to arrest members of the visiting force alleged to have been guilty of offences against the law of that country and to hand over any person so arrested to the appropriate authorities of the visiting force. |