Mutiny Act 1871
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1871 c. 9 |
Mutiny Act, 1871
(34 & 35 Vict.) CHAP. 9.
An Act for punishing Mutiny and Desertion, and for the better payment of the Army and their Quarters.
[24th April 1871]
Whereas the raising or keeping a standing army within the United Kingdom of Great 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 Her Majesty and this present Parliament that a body of forces should be continued for the safety of the United Kingdom, and the defence of the possessions of Her Majesty's Crown, and that the whole number of such forces should consist of one hundred and thirty-five thousand and forty-seven men, including an average number of six thousand three hundred and eighty-five, all ranks, to be employed with the depts in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland of regiments serving in Her Majesty's Indian possessions, but exclusive of the numbers actually serving within Her Majesty's Indian possessions: 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 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 Her Majesty's service, or be guilty of crimes and offences to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, be brought to a more exemplary and speedy punishment than the usual forms of the law will allow:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen'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 authority of the same, as follows:
1 Articles of War made by Her Majesty to be judicially taken notice of, and copies printed by the Queen's printer to be transmitted to judges, &c.
1. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty to make Articles of War for the better government of Her Majesty's army which articles shall be judicially taken notice of by all judges and in all courts whatsoever; and copies of the same, printed by the Queen's printer, shall, as soon as may be after the same shall have been made and established by Her Majesty, be transmitted by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the War Department to the judges of Her Majesty's superior courts at Westminster, Dublin, and Edinburgh respectively, and also to the governors of Her Majesty's dominions abroad: Provided that no person within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or within the British Isles, shall by such Articles of War be subject to suffer any punishment extending to life or limb, or to be kept in penal servitude, except for crimes which are by this Act expressly made liable to such punishments as aforesaid, or shall be subject, with reference to any crimes made punishable by this Act, to be punished in any manner which shall not accord with the provisions of this Act: Provided also, that nothing in this Act contained shall in any manner prejudice or affect any Articles of War or other matters made, enacted, or in force, or which may hereafter be made, enacted, or in force, under the authority of the Government of India, respecting officers or soldiers or followers in Her Majesty's Indian army, being natives of India; and on the trial of all offences committed by any such native officer or soldier or follower, reference shall be had to the Articles of War framed by the Government of India for such native officers, soldiers, or followers, and to the established usages of the service.
2 Persons subject to this Act.
2. 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 warrant officers, and to all persons employed on the recruiting service receiving pay, and all pensioners receiving allowances in respect of such service, and to persons who are or shall be hired to be employed in the royal artillery, royal engineers, and to master gunners, and to conductors of stores, and to the corps of royal military surveyors and draftsmen, and to all officers and persons who are or shall be serving in the Control Department, and to officers and soldiers serving in the transport, supply, and ordnance branches of the army service corps, and to persons in the War Department, who are or shall be serving with any part of Her Majesty's army at home or abroad, under the command of any commissioned officer, and (subject to and in accordance with the provisions of an Act passed in the sixth and seventh years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter ninety-five,) to any out-pensioners of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, who may be called out on duty in aid of the civil power, or for muster or inspection, or who having volunteered their services for that purpose shall be kept on duty in any fort, town, or garrison, and to all civil officers who are or shall be employed by or act under the Secretary of State for War at any of Her Majesty's establishments in the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and the islands thereto belonging, or at foreign stations; and all the provisions of this Act shall apply to all persons belonging to Her Majesty's Indian forces who are or shall be commissioned or in pay as officers, or who shall be listed or in pay as non-commissioned officers or soldiers, or who are or shall be serving or hired to be employed in the artillery or any of the trains of artillery, or as master gunners or gunners, or as conductors of stores, or who are or shall be serving in the department of engineers, or in the corps of sappers and miners, or pioneers, or as military surveyors or draftsmen, or in the ordnance or public works or commissariat departments, and to all storekeepers and other civil officers employed under the ordnance, and to all veterinary surgeons, medical storekeepers, apothecaries, hospital stewards, and others serving in the medical department of the said forces, and to all licensed suttlers, and all followers in or of any of the said forces; provided that nothing in this Act contained shall extend to affect any security which has been or shall be given by any officers, or their sureties, for the due performance of their respective offices, but that all such securities shall be and remain in full force and effect.
3 Provisions of this Act to extend to Jersey, Guernsey, &c.
3. This Act shall extend to the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and the islands thereto belonging, as to the provisions herein contained for enlisting of recruits, whether minors or of full age, and swearing and attesting such recruits, and for mustering and paying, and as 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 as to the provisions which relate to the punishment of persons who shall conceal deserters, or shall knowingly buy, exchange, or otherwise receive any arms, medals for good conduct or for distinguished or other service, 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 as 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.
4 Colonial and foreign troops in Her Majesty's pay to be subject to provisions of this Act.
4. All officers and soldiers of any troops 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 into Great Britain 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.
5 Provision as to the militia or yeomanry or volunteer corps or reserve forces.
5. Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to extend to any militia forces or yeomanry or volunteer corps in Great Britain or Ireland, or to the reserve force provided for by ‘The Reserve Force Act, 1867,’ or to the reserve force provided for by ‘The Militia Reserve Act, 1867,’ excepting only where by any Act for regulating any of the said forces or corps the provisions contained in any Act for punishing mutiny and desertion are or shall be specifically made applicable to such forces or corps.
6 Power to constitute courts-martial.
6. For the...
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