The Armed Forces Act 2006 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2007, SI 2007/1442 brought into force on 4th June 2007 the important changes noted below which replace the one-off courts martial that previously had to be convened for each trial. With minor exceptions, the Act was wholly in force by 31st October 2009 (see Armed Forces Act 2006 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2009, SI 2009/1167). New Court Martial rules also came into effect on that date.

The single most important purpose of the Armed Forces Act 2006 is to establish a single permanent Court Martial, covering all three Services. This important change, replacing the previous system under which one-off courts martial had to be convened for each trial, came into effect on 4th June 2007 (the Armed Forces Act 2006 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2007, SI 2007/1442 ).

The 2006 Act also repeals the previous "Service Discipline Acts" (the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discipline Act 1957).

The Legal Services Commission (tel 08457-500640) has been charged with responsibility for locating an appropriate duty solicitor to represent members of the armed forces who wish to be represented at a new style military custody hearing and who have not nominated a solicitor or who do not wish to use the services's in-house legal department.