Court over one day would render the sentence void and the proceedings illegal. If anything should occur to prevent the court-martial from proceeding to sentence, the Court must of course be dissolved, and the prisoner may be brought to trial the first convenient opportunity afterwards. In November, 1823, a court-martial was held at Plymouth on Captain Harris, of His Majesty's ship "Hussar,” for disobedience of orders; owing to the sudden illness of the president, who subsequently died, the Court, after adjourning from day to day for want of a sufficient number of members, dissolved itself:another court-martial was consequently ordered to assemble for the trial of Captain Harris, at which he was most honourably acquitted. If a member of a court-martial, after being sworn, is excused from attendance, on any ground, he must resume his seat whenever the cause for which he was excused shall have ceased. So, in case of sickness, the evidence of the surgeon will be required at each sitting of the Court. At naval courts-martial the officers composing the Court take their seats thereat according to their respective rank and seniority, as follows: - viz. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, on the right of the president; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, on the left of the president. The president sits at the head of the table; the JudgeAdvocate at the bottom; the prosecutor stands on the right of the president; the prisoner behind, and the witness under examination, on the right of, the Judge-Advocate. As soon as all the members, together with the prosecutor and prisoner, are present, and the audience admitted, the Judge-Advocate, by direction of the president, calls over the names of the members of the court-martial, and of the witnesses, and reads aloud the order for assembling the Court; he then hands his warrant of appointment to the president for signature, and it also is read; after which it is his duty to administer to each of the members the oath prescribed in the 3rd section of the Act 10 & 11 Victoria, cap. 59. The president must afterwards administer to the Judge-Advocate the oath enjoined by the same Act. It is usual for the court-martial to assemble on board the ship to which the president belongs; it may be held, however, in any ship in commission; it cannot take place on shore without the authority of a special Act of Parliament. Such an Act was passed in the year 1779, to authorise the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to adjourn the court-martial to be held for the trial of Admiral the Honourable Augustus Keppel to such convenient place on shore as their Lordships might deem necessary or expedient. This Act, though expired, is inserted in the Admiralty Statutes as a precedent. (19 Geo. 3. cap. 6.) When the Court has once been assembled and sworn according to Act of Parliament, they cannot be discharged from giving their judgment upon the case before them; neither the Admiralty nor the person who ordered the court-martial can au thorise the conclusion of the trial before its natural period; but a writ of prohibition from the Court of Queen's Bench directed to the members of a court-martial, commanding them to cease their proceedings, must be obeyed.* *For cases illustrative of the constitution of courts-martial, see Appendix, from No. I. to No. X. 29 CHAP. II. FORMS OF PROCEEDING IN NAVAL COURTS-MARTIAL. Period within which Complaints must be made in Writing.Prisoner to be furnished with a Copy of the Charges. Mode of Proceeding when the Court is sworn. All Evidence to be given on Oath. No charge or complaint against any person can be taken cognizance of at a naval court-martial, unless the same be made in writing* to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, or to the commander-in-chief of the squadron to which the of fender may belong, and within three years of the committal of the offence, or within one year after the return of the ship, or of the squadron, in which the offender may have been serving, into any of the ports of Great Britain or Ireland, or within one year after the return of the offender to Great Britain or Ireland. But if the complaint be made within three years after the committal of the offence, a court-martial may legally proceed to trial, notwithstanding the party accused may have returned more than one year into any of the ports of Great Britain or Ireland before such complaint was made. The time, therefore, for commencing a prosecution for a breach of the naval articles of * Queen's Regulations, chap. vii. art. 2., p. 77. war is limited by statute; but should an offender fly from justice, he would be precluded from all the advantages of the limitation, and subject to trial at any period whenever his arrest might be effected.* Except in cases of mutiny, or under such other pressing circumstances as might render delay inexpedient to the public service, the prisoner must be furnished with a copy of the charges or complaints against him at least twenty-four hours prior to the commencement of the trial; an omission on this point would render the proceedings invalid. This indulgence is not generally granted in our criminal courts. "At the Old Bailey, a copy of the indictment cannot regularly be obtained without an order from the court; and it is a common practice, on the circuits, to apply to the court for a copy at the time of the trial. This practice appears to have been first adopted at the Old Bailey, in pursuance of an order made by some of the Judges for the regulation of those sessions in the 26th year of Charles II. It was then ordered that no copies of any indictment for felony be given without special order, upon motion made in open court at the general gaol delivery, for the late frequency of actions against prosecutors, which cannot be without copies of the indictment, deterreth people from prosecuting for the king upon just occasions.""‡ * Vide Appendix, Nos. XII. and XIII. † Queen's Regulations, chap. vii. art. 3., p. 77. |