Mutiny Act 1847
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1847 c. 12 |
(10 & 11 Vict.) C A P. XII.
[23d April 1847]
[Number of Forces , 108,398.]
II Persons subject to this Act.
II. And be it enacted, That all the Provisions of this Act shall apply to all Persons who are or shall be commissioned or in Pay as an Officer, or who are or shall be listed or in Pay as a Non-commissioned Officer or Soldier, and to all Persons employed on the Recruiting Service receiving Pay in respect of such Service, and to the Officers and Soldiers belonging to the Forces of theEast India Company while such Officers or Soldiers shall be in any Part of the United Kingdom, and to the Officers and Persons who are or shall be serving and hired to be employed in the Royal Artillery and Field Train, and to Master Gunners, and Gunners, and Conductors of Stores, and to all Officers and Persons who are or shall be serving in the Regiment of Royal Engineers and the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, and in the Corps of Royal Military Surveyors and Draftsmen, and to Persons in the Ordnance and Commissariat Departments, who are or shall be serving with any Part of Her Majesty's Forces at home or abroad, under the Command of any Officer having Commission from Her Majesty or from His late Majesty King William the Fourth, and to all Storekeepers and other Civil Officers who are or shall be employed by or act under the Ordnance at any of Her Majesty's Ordnance Establishments in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark , and Man , and the Islands thereto belonging, or at Foreign Stations; provided that nothing in this Act contained shall extend to affect any Security which has been given by such Storekeeper, Barrack Master, or other Officer, or their Sureties, for the due Performance of their respective Offices, under the Provisions of an Act passed in the Fiftieth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George , the Third, to regulate the taking of Securities in all Offices, but that such Bonds and other Securities shall be and remain in full Force and Effect.
III Act to extend to Jersey, Guernsey, &c.
III. And be it enacted, That this Act shall extend to the Islands ofJersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man , and the Islands thereto belonging, as to the Provisions therein for enlisting of Recruits, whether Minors or of full Age, and swearing and attesting such Recruits, and for mustering and paying, and to the Provisions for the Trial and Punishment of Officers and Soldiers who shall be charged with Mutiny and Desertion, or any other of the Offences which are by this Act declared to be punishable by the Sentence of a Court-martial, and also to the Provisions which relate to the Punishment of Persons who shall conceal Deserters, or shall knowingly buy, exchange, or otherwise receive any Arms, Clothes, Military Furniture, or Regimental Necessaries from any Soldier or Deserter, or who shall cause the Colour of any such Clothes to be changed, or who shall aid in the Escape of a Prisoner from a Military Prison, or who shall introduce forbidden Articles into such Prison, or shall carry out any such Articles, or who shall assault any Officer of such Prison, and also to the Provisions for exempting Soldiers from being taken out of Her Majesty's Service for not supporting or for leaving chargeable to any Parish any Wife or Child or Children, or on account of any Breach of Contract to serve or work for any Employer, or on account of any Debts under Thirty Pounds, in the said Islands.
IV Foreign Troops in this Country.
IV. And be it enacted, That all Officers and Soldiers of any Troops, being mustered and in Pay, which shall be raised and serving in any of Her Majesty's Dominions abroad, or in Places in possession of or occupied by Her Majesty's Subjects under the Command of any Officer having any Commission immediately from Her Majesty, shall be subject to the Provisions of this Act and of Her Majesty's Articles of War, in like Manner as Her Majesty's other Forces are; and if such Officers and Soldiers, having been made Prisoners, be sent intoEngland or Ireland , although not allowed to serve therein, all the Provisions of this Act in regard to billeting Soldiers, shall apply to such Officers and Soldiers.
V Militia and Yeomanry
V. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall in anywise be construed to extend to any Militia Forces or Yeomanry or Volunteer Corps inGreat Britain or Ireland , excepting only in such Cases wherein, by any Act or Acts for regulating any of the said Forces or Corps, the Provisions contained in any Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion shall be specifically made applicable to the said Corps.
VI Power to constitute Courts-martial.
VI. And be it declared and enacted, That for the Purpose of bringing Offenders against this Act and the Articles of War to Justice Her Majesty may from Time to Time, in like Manner as has been heretofore used, grant Commissions under the Royal Sign Manual for the holding Courts-martial within the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland , and may grant Commissions or Warrants under the said Royal Sign Manual 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 Her Majesty's Forces, as well within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Isles as in any of Her Majesty's Garrisons and Dominions or elsewhere beyond Seas, for convening Courts-martial, and for authorizing any Officer under their respective Commands 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 the Command of any such last-mentioned Officer, whether the same shall have been committed before or after such Officer shall have taken upon him such Command; and any Person subject to this Act, who shall in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions or elsewhere commit any of the Offences for which he may be liable to be tried by Court-martial by virtue of this Act or the Articles of War, may be tried or punished for the same in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions where he may have come after the Commission of the Offence, as if the Offence had been committed where such Trial shall take place.
VII General Courts-martial.
VII. And be it enacted, That a General Court-martial convened inSaint Helena, Africa, Honduras ,the Australian Colonies, and the Settlements on the Coast of China , shall consist of not less than Five Commissioned Officers; that if convened in Jamaica, Newfoundland, Bermuda , or the Bahamas , or in any Part out of the Queen's Dominions, excepting the Parts afore mentioned, it shall consist of not less than Seven; and that if convened in any other Part of the Queen's Dominions, or of the Settlements of the East India Company, it shall consist of not less than Thirteen Commissioned Officers, and shall have Power to sentence any Officer or Soldier to suffer Death, Transportation, or any other Punishment which shall accord with the Provisions of this Act.
VIII District or Garrison Courts-martial.
VIII. And be it enacted, That a District or Garrison Court-martial shall consist of not less than Seven Commissioned Officers, except inBermuda , the Bahamas, Saint Helena, Africa, Jamaica, Honduras, Newfoundland , the Australian Colonies, the Windward and Leeward Islands, British Guiana , and the Settlements on the Coast of China , where it may consist of not less than Five Commissioned Officers, and in Africa when convened for the Trial of Desertion of not less than Three Commissioned Officers; and such Court-martial shall have the same Power as a General Court-martial to sentence any Soldier to such Punishments as shall accord with the Provisions of this Act; provided that such Court-martial shall not have Power to try a Commissioned Officer, nor to pass any Sentence of Death or Transportation.
IX Regimental and Detachment Courts-martial.
IX. And be it enacted, That a Regimental or Detachment Court-martial shall consist of not less than Five Officers, unless it is found to be impracticable to assemble that Number, when Three may be sufficient, and shall have Power to sentence any Soldier to Corporal Punishment, to Imprisonment, and to Forfeiture of Pay, in such Manner as shall accord with the Provisions of this Act.
X Courts-martial on Line of March or in Troop Ships.
X. And be it enacted, That in Cases of Mutiny and gross Insubordination, or other Offences committed on the Line of March, or on board any Transport Ship, Convict Ship, Merchant Vessel, or Troop Ship not in Commission, the Offence may be tried by a Regimental or Detachment Court-martial, and the Sentence confirmed and carried into execution on the Spot by the Officer in the immediate Command of the Troops, provided that the Sentence shall not exceed that which a Regimental Court-martial is competent to award.
XI Court-martial in special Cases out of the Queen's Dominions.
XI. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Officer commanding any District, Detachment, or Portion of Her Majesty's Troops which may at any Time be serving out of Her Majesty's Dominions, upon Complaint made to him of any Offence committed against the Property or Person of any Inhabitant of or Resident of any such Countries, by any Person serving with or belonging to Her Majesty's Armies, being under the immediate Command of any such...
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