Defence Act, 1957 (Act No. 44 of 1957)SchedulesFirst Schedule34. Offences in relation to a military court |
| (1) | Any person who— |
| (a) | having been duly summoned or warned to attend as a witness before a military court, fails to attend or to remain in attendance until authorized to leave; |
| (b) | being present at a military court after having been duly summoned or warned to attend as a witness, refuses to be sworn or to affirm; |
| (c) | when giving evidence at a military court, refuses to answer any questions which in law he could be compelled to answer, or refuses or fails to produce any document or thing in his possession or under his control which in law he could be compelled to produce; or |
| (d) | uses threatening or insulting language at a military court or wilfully causes a disturbance or interruption thereat or wilfully commits any other act calculated or likely to bring such military court into contempt, ridicule or disrepute, |
shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.
| (2) | The military court at a sitting whereof an offence mentioned in paragraph (d) of subsection (1) is committed, may summarily order the offender to be imprisoned for a period not exceeding twenty-one days, or to undergo any less severe punishment to which a person convicted of an offence under this Code by a military court could be sentenced, and any such order shall have the same effect and may be executed in the same manner as if it were a sentence imposed by a military court in the course of a trial in respect of an offence under this Code before such court, and the provisions of section ninety-six shall apply in connection with any such order. |
[Section 34 amended by section 43(b) of Act No. 16 of 1999]