1. Members of the armed forces may be employed to assist the civil authorities in a number of different ways. The manner in which troops are required to provide assistance to the civil authorities is divided into the following categories:-

(a) Military Aid to the Civil Community (MACC). This involves the use of unarmed Service personnel to provide help in natural disasters and emergencies.

(b) Military Aid to the Civil Ministries (MACM). This involves the use of unarmed Service personnel on urgent work of national importance, to maintain essential services and supplies. More detailed information on this subject can be found in JSP 407.

(c) Military Aid to the Civil Power (MACP). This might involve the used of armed troops to assist the civil power in the maintenance of law and order.

The common law imposes on all citizens, including members of the armed forces, an obligation to render aid to the civil power to enforce law and order, if called upon to do so. Consequently, force may only be used so far as is reasonable necessary to restore law and order. What is reasonably necessary must be determined using the information that is available to the air-force commander or other member of the air force commanding troops. In some circumstances, it may be necessary for a commander to rely solely on the opinions and assessment provided by the civil power concerned (ie where he has no opportunity of ascertaining and judging the facts of the case for himself). A member of the armed forces who fails or hesitates to render aid when called on may be held responsible in law for his failure.

In addition to his common law liability, a member of the air force has a duty laid upon him under Queen's Regulations (QR J852) to render aid, in case of riot or other disturbances of the peace, in the manner and to the extent therein laid down.

An air-force commander who receives a request from a civil power for assistance in order to maintain peace and public order is under a duty to inform his superior authority and the Ministry of Defence at once. However in exceptional circumstances, if a grave and sudden emergency arises which in the commander's opinion demands immediately intervention to protect life and property, he must act on his own responsibility and report the matter to the chief officer of police and the service authorities as soon as possible.

2. The preservation of law and order is primarily the duty of the police and the civil authority is justified in calling in the help of the armed forces only if a situation has developed which is beyond the resources of the local police, supplemented by any additional police who can be procured from elsewhere or by any police reserve or special constabulary who may be available. It follows that a commander should never, except in cases of grave emergency, intervene with the forces under his command to restore order, unless requested to do so by the civil authority. Where a case of grave emergency exists, such intervention might be warranted but the commander in question must be prepared to justify his actions later.

3. In normal circumstances the request for intervention would come from a Chief Officer of Police, and an air-force commander receiving such a request should, where practicable, place himself under the direction of such Chief Officer of Police.

A Chief Officer of Police may not have knowledge of the weapons at the disposal of the air-force personnel but he will normally be the best judge of the nature and degree of force necessary to restore the situation. However, a Chief Officer of Police might defer to the opinion of the air-force commander on service matters, particularly with regard to the degree of force to be used.

The primary responsibility remains with the Chief Officer of Police and it is his duty to request the air-force commander to take action when the civil resources at his disposal are insufficient to deal with the situation.

On the other hand an air-force commander will not be performing his duty if, from fear of responsibility, he takes no action and allows serious disorders to continue or outrages to be committed which are within his power to check, merely on the ground that there is no Chief Officer of Police present to direct him to take action.

An air-force commander who receives a requisition for air-force personnel is bound to comply if he is not in full possession of the facts. If on arrival, the Chief Officer of Police demands immediate intervention, before the air force commander has had time to investigate for himself and therefore where the commander has no reason to believe that the use of armed force would be unlawful, he must intervene and would thereafter be protected by the law.

If there is time to investigate, the commander on the spot must appraise the situation for himself. Where, after such investigation, he reaches the conclusion that only by the use of armed force will order be restored, he is bound to intervene and has nothing to fear from the law from such intervention, provided that he uses no more force than is reasonable and necessary. The rule as to the minimum degree of force necessary applies equally to all ranks taking part in the operation.

Where a Chief Officer of Police and an air-force commander are acting together, the obligation lies on the Chief Officer of Police to request the commander to take action, but the action to be taken, ie the degree of force required in the circumstances, must be judged by the commander.

4. The armed forces of the Crown may find themselves called on to intervene in any of the following circumstances:

(a) in a national emergency after a state of emergency has been proclaimed;

(b) to prevent the intimidation of workers during an industrial dispute;

(c) to stop a violent disorder;

(d) to suppress a riot;

(e) to stop an affray.

The first two are generally connected with trade disputes and industrial unrest. The merits or demerits of such disputes are of no concern whatsoever to the officers or airmen who may be called upon to assist the civil power. The sole duty of such persons is to help in the maintenance of law and order and in particular the protection of life and property.

Since the circumstances in which intervention is likely to be requested and the degree and extent of the force to be used will differ in each of the cases mentioned above, it will be necessary to consider each case separately.

5. A national emergency:-The Emergency Powers Act 1920, as amended by the Emergency Powers Act 1964, enacts that if at any time it appears that there have occurred, or are about to occur, events of such a nature as to be calculated, by interfering with the supply and distribution of food, water, fuel or light, or the means of locomotion to deprive the community, or any substantial portion of the community, of the essentials of life, Her Majesty may, by proclamation, declare that a state of emergency exists.

So long as such proclamation remains in force, it is lawful for Her Majesty in Council by order to make regulations for securing the essentials of life to the community, and those regulations may confer or impose on a Secretary of State or other government department, or any other persons in Her Majesty's service or acting on Her Majesty's behalf, such powers and duties as Her Majesty may deem necessary for the preservation of peace, for securing and regulating the supply and distribution of food, water, fuel, light and other necessities, for maintaining the means of transport or locomotion, and for any other purpose essential to the public safety and the life of the community.

Under such regulations air-force personnel may be called upon to perform duties not otherwise regarded as service duties in order to secure the necessities of life to the community, although no actual breach of the peace has occurred, and it follows that they are entitled to use such force and no more, as may be necessary to enable them to carry out the duties entrusted to them. The Emergency Powers Act 1964, made permanent the Defence (Armed Forces) Regulations 1939, which authorise the temporary employment of members of the armed forces in agricultural work or other urgent work of national importance. See paragraph 14 below.

Once a national emergency has been declared the use and control of the armed forces to meet that emergency will be at governmental level and it is unlikely, except possibly in a remote area, that a local military or air-force commander would be called upon to take a decision as to their employment.

6. Industrial disputes:-Under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, s.241, it is an offence to intimidate or use any form of violence against a person with a view to compelling such person to do or to abstain from doing any act which such person has a legal right to do or abstain from doing.

This Act was passed to prevent the intimidation of workers during an industrial dispute. Peaceful picketing is permitted but must not develop or deteriorate into intimidation.

Under modern industrial conditions in this country it is unlikely that the armed forces would be called upon to intervene to prevent the intimidation of workers. The civil police would normally deal with matters of that sort or with local outbreaks of violence during a strike.

Circumstances might, however, arise in which an outbreak of violence resulting from an industrial dispute called for the immediate intervention of the armed forces to prevent danger to life and damage to property and in such a case a local commander would be bound to render assistance if called upon to do so by the civil power.

7. Violent disorder. This statutory offence (Public Order Act 1986, s.2). is where 3 or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violence and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety. It is immaterial whether or not the 3 or more use or threaten unlawful violence simultaneously. Such an offence may be committed both in private as well as public places. Violence is defined as violent conduct towards property as well as persons and is not restricted to conduct causing or intended to cause injury or damage but includes conduct such as throwing toward a person a missile capable of causing injury which falls short (s.8 Public Order Act 1986).

8. It is extremely unlikely that the civil powers in the United Kingdom will need to call on the armed forces to assist with a suspected violent disorder. Under existing conditions of speedy transport and communications it is possible to concentrate adequate police forces at short notice to deal with any emergency. In addition most police forces have acquired suitable equipment to deal with the most serious levels of civil disorder. It is difficult to visualise any circumstances in which the use of firearms to assist in a violent disorder situation which involved no serious threat to life or property would be justified.

If intervention by the armed forces did become necessary, no more force may be used than is reasonably necessary to assist the police in effecting an arrest or subduing the disorder (s.3 Criminal Law Act 1967).

9. Riot. The statutory offence of riot (s.1(1); Public Order Act 1986) is where 12 or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety, each of the persons using unlawful violence for the common purpose is guilty of riot. Riot may be committed in private as well as public places. Common purposes may be inferred from their conduct. Violence is defined in the same manner as in Paragraph 7 above.

10. Affray. A person is guilty of affray (s.3) Public Order Act 1986) if he uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and his conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety. Affray may be committed in private as well as public places. In the case of affray alone, violence does not include conduct towards property but persons only (s. 8 Public Order Act 1986).

11. As in the case of violent disorder above, it is highly unlikely that the armed forces will be called on to assist with a riot or affray. Riots and highly charged industrial disturbances in London and the provinces have proven the ability of the civil police to cope with large and widespread civil disorder without the intervention of the armed services. Only in the province of Northern Ireland is there a regular and permanent example of the armed services acting in conjunction with the civil police to maintain law and order. These responsibilities are undertaken primarily by the Army and will not be discussed further in this publication.

12. Were the civil police to request the assistance of the armed services in the event of a riot occurring, those lawfully engaged in trying to apprehend a rioter are justified in using such degree of force as is reasonably necessary to protect themselves or to overcome resistance. It is sometimes impracticable to attempt the arrest of individuals without using means calculated to occasion harm but firing on a mob can only be excused by the necessity of self-defence or defence of another. S.24(4) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 provides that any person may arrest, without a warrant, anyone who is in the act of committing or whom he has reasonable grounds for suspecting to be committing an arrestable offence. Additionally, s.24(5) PACE provides that a person may arrest anyone who is guilty of an arrestable offence or anyone whom he reasonably suspects to be guilty of such an offence. The Public Order offences of violent disorder and riot mentioned above are arrestable offences. A person might also be arrested by any citizen who is committing a breach of the peace. Troops share with other citizens the right of common law to arrest for a breach of the peace. For more details see Chapter II, Para 11, ante

13. Queen's Regulations paras. J852-854 lay down certain rules applicable to air-force personnel, when they are intervening in aid of the civil power. Perhaps the most important of these is the direction contained in QR J852 to the effect that the dispatch of a detachment of the air force for the express purposes of assisting the civil power will be resorted to only at the previous request of the civil authorities except in cases of great and sudden emergency which would justify an air-force commander acting on his own initiative.

It is not possible to formulate any precise set of rules as to the duties of an air-force commander of a detachment which is called out in aid of the civil power. In the final analysis the commander must use his own judgement based on his own appraisal of the situation. He will act lawfully so long as he is satisfied that intervention is necessary and if, in the execution of his duty, he uses no more force than is reasonably necessary to restore law and order.

14. In addition to their liability to aid the civil power, the armed forces may be called on to help in other ways in time of emergency. Their duties in this respect are governed by Regulation 6 (this regulation was made permanent by section 2 of the Emergency Powers Act, 1964) of the Defence (Armed Forces) Regulations 1939, which reads as follows:-

"6. The Admiralty, the Army Council or the Air Council may by order authorise officers and men of Her Majesty's naval, military or air forces under their respective control to be temporarily employed in agricultural work or such other work as may be approved in accordance with instructions issued by the Admiralty, the Army Council or the Air Council (QR J853), as the case may be, as being urgent work of national importance, and there upon it shall be the duty of every person subject to the Naval Discipline Act, military law or air-force law to obey any command given by his superior officer in relation to such employment, and every such command shall be deemed to be a lawful command within the meaning of the Naval Discipline Act, the Army Act, 1955 or the Air Force Act 1955 as the case may be".

Examples of this type of work are assistance in times of flood, putting out forest fires and clearance of ice and snow.

15. The position of airmen as members of the armed forces of the Crown is in no way affected by any arrangements made for them to come to the assistance of a civil authority. Such work is to be regarded as an air-force duty within the meaning of the Air Force Act 1955, and is to be supervised by officers and non-commissioned officers. There will be no additional pay from any source in respect of such duties and personnel will be liable to immediate recall should the situation so require.

16. It is a principle of the employment of airmen in civil tasks that the employer should not thereby obtain labour more cheaply than he would by employing civilians in the normal way. The employer is therefore charged for the services of such airmen at the recognised civil rate by a procedure set out in Defence Council Instructions.

17. Employment of airmen on the land is authorised as a routine commitment, unlike the emergency tasks referred to above, and arrangements may be made by local commanders within the terms of standing instructions. Scales of charges are prescribed (see QR J853) and the same general conditions apply, with minor modifications, as for emergencies.

18. The Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (s.11) makes provisions for members of the armed forces to assist in the enforcement of the law in any matter in which the customs authorities are concerned. The powers contained in the Act should normally be exercised only in close co-operation with customs officers.