[FOI #914 email]

18 July 2008

Dear Mr Fountain

Thank you for your request of 26 June 2008 on the Visiting Forces Act 1952.

The Visiting Forces Act 1952 together with the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) Order 1999 make provision for dealing with offences committed by members of visiting naval, military and air forces from certain listed countries by their own service authorities and service courts rather than by United Kingdom authorities and courts. The act does not affect the specific legislation under which defendants are prosecuted in the United Kingdom, although it may determine which country's legislation will be applied when an offence is committed.

Information on whether court cases take place under the jurisdiction of the act is not held by the Ministry of Justice because the information on criminal proceedings only contains the specific statute for the offences under which defendants are prosecuted, not any other statutes governing the court case itself. For example, where a defendant is prosecuted for Robbery, an offence under Section 8 of the Theft Act 1968, the record held by the Ministry of Justice will list the prosecution as under this act only.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of any aspect of our handling of your application. During the internal review the department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff, who were not involved in providing you with this response.

Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you will have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I hope that you find the answer provided to you of interest, and would like to assure you that you have been supplied with all relevant information that CJEA OCJR (Criminal Justice Evidence and Analysis, Office for Criminal Justice Reform) holds.

Yours sincerely,

Timothy Hand

1

Criminal Justice Evidence and Analysis (CJEA)

Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR)

Ground Floor - Peel Building, North West Quarter, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

T: 020 7035 4955 E: [email address]

Criminal Justice Evidence and Analysis (CJEA)

Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR)

Ground Floor - Peel Building, North West Quarter, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

T: 020 7035 4955 E: [email address]