Armed Forces Act

Armed Forces Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to armed forces. The bill for an act with this short title will usually have been known as an Armed Forces Bill during its passage through Parliament.

Armed Forces Acts may be a generic name either for legislation bearing that short title or for all legislation which relates to armed forces.

In the United Kingdom, an Armed Forces Act must be passed every five years to enable the maintenance of a standing army, which would otherwise be illegal under the Bill of Rights 1689.^[1]^[2]^[3]

List

India

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts

Malaysia

Armed Forces Act 1972

United Kingdom

Armed Forces (Housing Loans) Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 77)
Armed Forces (Housing Loans) Act 1958 (7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 1)
Armed Forces (Housing Loans) Act 1965 (c. 9)
Armed Forces Act 1966 (c. 45)
Armed Forces Act 1971 (c. 33)
Armed Forces Act 1976 (c. 52)
Armed Forces Act 1981 (c. 55)
Armed Forces Act 1986 (c. 21)
Armed Forces Act 1991 (c. 62)
Armed Forces Act 1996 (c. 46)
Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 (c. 4)
Armed Forces Act 2001 (c. 19)
Armed Forces (Pensions and Compensation) Act 2004 (c. 32)
Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52)
Armed Forces Act 2011 (c. 18)
Armed Forces Act 2016 (c. 21)
Armed Forces Act 2021 (c. 35)

References

^ Rozenberg, Joshua (28 July 2005). "Forces to face single justice body". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^ Ministry of Defense (16 June 2011). "Armed Forces Bill--Explanatory Notes". The Stationery Office. para. 3. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014. For constitutional reasons an Armed Forces Bill is required every five years. The primary purpose of Armed Forces Bills is accordingly to provide for the continuation for a further period of up to five years of the provisions enabling the armed forces to be recruited and maintained as disciplined bodies.
^ Ministry of Defense (30 November 2005). "Armed Forces Bill--Explanatory Notes". The Stationery Office. para. 14. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014. Since 1955 the Army and Air Force Acts (and, since 1971, the Naval Discipline Act) have been subject to renewal by primary legislation every five years and, in each of the intervening years, by an Order in Council approved in draft by both Houses of Parliament. This requirement for Parliamentary agreement for their continuation has its origins in the Bill of Rights 1688, which provides that the raising of a standing army is against the law unless Parliament consents to it. Since the 1950s the five-yearly Bills have been used primarily to make necessary and desirable amendments to the SDAs [Service Discipline Acts], often to reflect changes in the civilian criminal law of England and Wales.

UK legislation

Pre-parliamentary legislation

Acts of parliaments of states preceding
the Kingdom of Great Britain

Parliament of England	1225–1267 1275–1307 1308–1325 Temp. incert. 1327–1376 1377–1397 1399–1411 1413–1421 1422–1460 1461 1463 1464 1467 1468 1472 1474 1477 1482 1483 1485–1503 1509–1535 1536 1539–1540 1541 1542 1543 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1551 1553 1554 1555 1557 1558–1575 1580 1584 1586 1588 1592 1597 1601 1603 1605 1606 1609 1620 1623 1625 1627 Petition of Right 1640 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1670 1672 1675 1677 1678 1679 Habeas Corpus Act 1680 1685 1688 1689 Bill of Rights 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706
Parliament of Scotland	to 1707

Parliament of England