Mutiny Act 1831

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1831 c. 15
Anno Regni GULIELMI IV. Britanniarum Regis,Primo. An Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion; and for the better Payment of the Army and their Quarters.

(1 Will. 4) C A P. XV.

[15th March 1831]

'WHEREAS the raising or keeping a Standing Army within the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland , in Time of Peace, unless it be with the Consent of Parliament, is against Law: And whereas it is adjudged necessary by His Majesty, and this present Parliament, that a Body of Forces should be continued for the safety of the United Kingdom, the Defence of the Possessions of His Majesty's Crown, and the Preservation of the Balance of Power in Europe , and that the whole Number of such Forcesshould consist of Eighty-eight thousand four hundred and ninety-six Men, exclusive of the Officers and Men belonging to the Regiments employed in the Territorial Possessions of theEast India Company, but including the Officers and Men of the Troops and Companies recruiting for those Regiment; And whereas no Man can be forejudged of Life or Limb, or subjected in Time of Peace to any Kind of Punishment within this Realm, by Martial Law, or in any other Manner than by the Judgment of his Peers, and according to the known and established Laws of this Realm; yet nevertheless, it being requisite, for the retaining all the before-mentioned Forces in their Duty, that an exact Discipline be observed, and that Soldiers who shall mutiny or stir up Sedition, or shall desert His Majesty's Service, be brought to a more exemplary and speedy Punishment than the usual Forms of the Law will allow;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authorityof the same, That if any Person who is or shall be commissioned or in Pay as an Officer, or who is or shall be listed or in Pay as a Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, shall, at any Time during the Continuance of this Act, begin, excite, cause, or join in any Mutiny or Sedition in His Majesty's Land or Marine Forces, or shall not use his utmost Endeavours to suppress the same, or coming to the Knowledge of any Mutiny or intended Mutiny shall not, without Delay, give Information thereof to his Commanding Officer; or shall misbehave himself before the Enemy; or shall shamefully abandon or deliver up any Garrison, Fortress, Post, or Guard committed to his Charge, or which he shall be commanded to defend; or shall compel the Governor or Commanding Officer of any Garrison, Fortress, or Post, to deliver up to the Enemy or to abandon the same; or shall speak Words or use any other Means to induce such Governor or Commanding Officer, or others, to misbehave before the Enemy, or shamefully to abandon or deliver up any Garrison, Fortress, Post, or Guard committed to their respective Charge, or which he or they shall be commanded to defend; or shall leave his Post before relieved, or shall be found sleeping on his Post; or shall hold Correspondence with or give Advice or Intelligence to any Rebel or Enemy of His Majesty's, either by Letters, Messages, Signs, or Tokens, in any Manner or Way whatsoever; or shall treat or enter into any Terms with such Rebel or Enemy, without His Majesty's Licence, or Licence of the General or Chief Commander; or shall strike or use any Violence against his Superior Officer, being in the Execution of his Office, or shall disobey any lawful Command of his Superior Officer; or shall desert His Majesty's Service; all and every Person and Persons so offending in any of the Matters before mentioned, whether such Offence shall be committed within this Realm, or in any other of His Majesty's Dominions, or in Foreign Parts, upon Land or upon the Sea, shall suffer Death, or such other Punishment as by a Court-martial shall be awarded.

S-II The ordinary Course of Law not to be interfered with.

II The ordinary Course of Law not to be interfered with.

II. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to exempt any Officer or Soldier from being proceeded against by the ordinary Course of Law; and any Commanding Officer who shall neglect or refuse, when Application is made to him for that Purpose, to deliver over to the Civil Magistrate any Officer or Soldier accused of any Capital Crime, or of any Violence or Offence against the Person, Estate, or Property of any of His Majesty's Subjects, which is punishable by the known Laws of the Land, or shall wilfully neglect or refuse to assist the Officers of Justice in apprehending such Offender, shall, upon Conviction thereof in any Prosecution in any of His Majesty's Courts atWestminster, Dublin , or Edinburgh , be deemed to be ipso facto cashiered, and shall be utterly disabled to have or hold any Civil or Military Office or Employment within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , or in His Majesty's Service, and a Certificate thereof shall be transmitted to the Judge Advocate in London ; provided that no Person, being acquitted or convicted of any Capital Crime, Violence, or Offence, by the Civil Magistrate, or by the Verdict of a Jury, shall be liable to be punished by a Court-martial for the same otherwise than by cashiering.

S-III Soldiers not to be taken away from the Service for Debts under 30 l. .

III Soldiers not to be taken away from the Service for Debts under 30 l. .

III. And be it enacted, That no Person whatever (except an Apprentice) enlisted into His Majesty's Service as a Soldier shall be liable to be arrested or taken therefrom by reason of the Warrant of any Justice, on account of any Breach of Contract or Engagement to serve or work for any Employer; and no Person enlisted as a Soldier, or serving as a Non-commissioned Officer or Drummer on the permanent Staff of the disembodied Militia, shall be liable to be taken out of His Majesty's Service by any Process or Execution whatsoever, other than for some Criminal Matter, unless an Affidavit shall be made by the Plaintiff, or some one on his Behalf, for which no fee shall be taken, before some Judge of the Court out of which such Process or Execution shall issue, or before some Person authorized to take Affidavits in such Courts, of which Affidavit a Memorandum shall, without Fee, be endorsed upon the Back of such Process, that the original Debt for which the Action has been brought or Execution sued out amounts to the Value of Thirty Pounds at least, over and above all Costs of Suit in the Action or Actions on which the same shall be grounded; and any Judge of such Court may examine into any Complaints made by a Soldier, or by his Superior Officer, and by Warrant under his Hand discharge such Soldier without Fee, he being shewn to be duly enlisted, and to have been arrested contrary to the Intent of this Act, and shall award reasonable Costs to such Complainant, who shall have for the Recovery thereof the like Remedy as would have been applicable to the Recovery of any Costs which might have been awarded against the Complainant in any Judgment or Execution as aforesaid; provided that any Plaintiff, upon Notice of the Cause of Action first given in Writing to any Soldier, or left at his last Place of Residence before such Listing, may file a Common Appearance in any Action to be brought for or upon account of any Debt whatsoever, and proceed therein to Judgment and Outlawry, and have Execution other than and against the Body.

S-IV The King may make Articles of War in conformity with this Act.

IV The King may make Articles of War in conformity with this Act.

IV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for His Majesty to make Articles of War for the better Government of His Majesty's Forces, which Articles shall be judicially taken notice of by all Judges, and in all Courts whatsoever; and Copies of the same, printed by the King's Printer, shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the same shall have been made and established by His Majesty, be transmitted by His Majesty's Secretary at War, signed with his own Hand and Name, to the Judge of His Majesty's Superior Courts atWestminster, Dublin , and Edinburgh respectively, and also to the Governors of His Majesty's Dominions Abroad; provided that no Person within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , of the British Isles, shall be subject by such Articles of War to any Punishment extending to Life or Limb for any Crime which is not expressed to be so punishable by this Act, nor in any Manner or under any Regulations which shall not accord with the Provisions of this Act.

S-V Constitution of Courts-martial.

V Constitution of Courts-martial.

V. And be it enacted, That His Majesty may from time to time grant a Commission, under the Royal Sign Manual, for the holding of General Courts-martial within the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland , in like Manner as has been heretofore used; and that for bringing Offenders against the Articles of War to Justice it shall be lawful for His Majesty to erect and constitute Courts-martial within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , as well as to grant His Royal Commissions or Warrants to the Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland , the Commander of the Forces, or the Person or Persons commanding in chief, or commanding for the Time being, any Body of His Majesty's Forces, as well within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , and British Isles, as in any of His Majesty's Garrisons and Dominions or elsewhere beyond the Seas, for convening as well as for authorizing any Officer under their respective Command, not below the Degree of a Field Officer, to convene Courts-martial, as Occasion may require, for the Trial of Offences committed by any of the Forces under their several Command, whether the same shall have been committed before or after such Officer shall have taken upon himself such Command; and any Person subject to this Act, who shall in any of His Majesty's...

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