Commentary on Sections Section 3: Provost Marshal’s duty in relation to independence of investigations
20.Each of the Services has its own service police force. The officers of the service police are called “provost officers” and are headed by the Provost Marshal for the service police force in question. This section inserts a new section 115A into AFA 2006, which provides that the Provost Marshal of a service police force has a duty to seek to ensure that its investigations are free from improper interference. Under new section 115A(3) “improper interference” includes an attempt by anyone who is not a service policeman to direct an investigation. The Provost Marshals owe their duty directly to the Defence Council, the highest level of the Ministry of Defence responsible for command and administration of the armed forces.