Section 14: Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meaning hereby assigned to them, that is to say-
"court" includes a service court;
"dependant", in relation to a person, means any of the following, that is to say-
(a) the wife or husband of that person; and
(b) any other person wholly or mainly maintained by him or in his custody, charge or care;
''forces'', in relation to a country, means any of the military, naval or air forces of that country;
"member", in relation to a visiting force, means a person for the time being appointed to serve with or attached to that visiting force, being either-
(a) a member of the forces of the sending country; or
(b) a person subject to the service law of that country otherwise than a member of that country's forces;
"the home forces" means any part of the Nigerian Army, Navy or Air Forces for the time being serving in Nigeria;
"the Minister" means the Minister of the Government of the Federation responsible for defence;
"the sending country", in relation to a visiting forces, means the country to whose forces the visiting force belongs;
"Nigerian court" means a court exercising jurisdiction in Nigeria under Nigerian law otherwise than by virtue of section 2 of this Act;
"Nigerian law" means the law of Nigeria or of any part thereof;
"service authorities" means military, naval or air force authorities;
"service court", in relation to a country, means a court established under service law and includes any authority of that country who under the law thereof is empowered to review or confirm the proceedings of such a court or to try or investigate charges brought against persons subject to the service law of that country; and references to trial by, or to sentences passed by, service courts of a country shall be construed respectively as including references to trial by, and to punishment imposed by, such an authority in the exercise of such powers;
"service law", in relation to a country, means the law governing all or any of the forces of that country;
"visiting force" means, for the purposes of any provision of this Act, any body, contingent or detachment of the forces of a country to which that provision applies, being a body, contingent or detachment for the time being present in Nigeria on the invitation of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
(2) References in any provision of this Act to the appropriate authority of a country are references to such authority as may be appointed by the government of that country for the purposes of that provision; but no such appointment shall take effect until notice thereof has been given to the Minister, who on receipt of notice of any such appointment shall publish notice thereof in the Federal Gazette.
(3) For the purpose of this Act a member of a force of any country which (by whatever name called) is in the nature of a reserve or auxiliary force shall be taken to be a member of that country's forces so long as, but only so long as, he is called into actual service (by whatever expression described) or is called out for training.