Foreign Troops

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. And be it enacted, That all Officers and Soldiers of any in this Country. 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 into England 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.

Militia and
Yeomanry.

Power to con

martial.

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 in Great 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. And be it declared and enacted, That for the Purpose of stitute Courts 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 of Great 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 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

after such Officer shall have taken upon him such Command; the Officer so authorized not being however below the Degree of a Field Officer, except upon the Western Coast of Africa, where a Captain may be authorized to convene District or Garrison Courts-martial; 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. And be it enacted, That a General Court-martial con- General Courtsvened in Saint Helena, Africa, Honduras, the Australian Colo- martial. nies, 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.

martial.

VIII. And be it enacted, That a District or Garrison Court- District or Garmartial shall consist of not less than Seven Commissioned Officers, rison Courtsexcept in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Saint Helena, 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, where it may consist of not less than Three Commissioned Officers; and such Courtmartial 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.

Courts-martial.

IX. And be it enacted, That a Regimental or Detachment Regimental and Court-martial shall consist of not less than Five Officers, unless Detachment 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.

Troop Ships.

X. And be it enacted, That in Cases of Mutiny and gross Courts-martial Insubordination, or other Offences committed on the Line of on Line of March, or on board any Transport Ship, Convict Ship, Merchant March or in 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

Courts-martial

out of the

Queen's Do

minions.

that the Sentence shall not exceed that which a Regimental Court-martial is competent to award.

XI. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for any Officer in special Cases 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 Officer, to convene a Detachment General Court-martial, which shall consist of not less than Three Officers, for the Purpose of trying any such Person; and every such Court-martial shall have the same Powers in regard to Sentence upon Offenders as are granted by this Act to General Courts-martial; provided that no Sentence of any such Court-martial shall be executed until the General commanding the Army to which the Division, Brigade, Detachment, or Party to which any Person so tried, convicted, and adjudged to suffer Punishment shall belong shall have approved and confirmed the

Mixed Courts

of Marines and East India

Company.

same.

XII. And be it enacted, That, where necessary or expedient, martial in case Officers of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, or Officers in the Service of the East India Company, or Officers of both such Services, may sit on Courts-martial, together with Officers of Her Majesty's Land Forces, whether the Commanding Officer by whose Order such Court-martial is assembled belongs to the Land or to the Marine Forces; and when the Person to be tried shall belong to the Land Forces, then the Proceedings of such Court shall be regulated, to all Intents and Purposes, as if the Court was composed of Officers of Her Majesty's Land Forces only, and the Provisions of this Act, and the Oaths hereby prescribed, shall be applicable to the Proceedings of such Court; but where the Person to be tried shall belong to Her Majesty's Royal Marines, then the Provisions of an Act passed in the present Session of Parliament, for the Regulation of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces while on Shore, and the Oaths therein prescribed, shall be applicable; and where the Person to be tried shall be in the Service of the East India Company the Provisions of an Act passed in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, to amend the Laws for punishing Mutiny and Desertion of Officers and Soldiers in the Service of the East India Company, and the Oaths thereby prescribed, shall be applicable, notwithstanding any Officer, though in the actual Service of the said Company, may hold a Commission from Her Majesty or from His late Majesty King William the Fourth.

President of

XIII. And be it enacted, That the President of every CourtCourt-martial. martial shall be appointed by the Authority convening such Court, and shall in no Case be the Officer commanding in chief or Governor of the Garrison where the Offender shall be tried, nor Commander of the Regiment or Body of Troops composed of Detachments of different Regiments to which the Prisoner

belongs;

belongs; nor in the Case of a General Court-martial under the Degree of a Field Officer, unless a Field Officer cannot be had; nor in any Case whatever under the Degree of a Captain, save in the Case of a Detachment General Court-martial holden out of Her Majesty's Dominions, or of a Regimental or Detachment Court-martial holden on the Line of March, or on board any Transport Ship, Convict Ship, Merchant Vessel, or Troop Ship not in Commission, or on any Foreign Station where a Captain cannot be had.

XIV. And be it enacted, That in all Trials by Court-martial, Proceedings at as soon as the President and other Officers appointed to serve Trial. thereon shall be assembled, their Names shall be read over in the Hearing of the Prisoner, who shall thereupon be asked if he objects to being tried by the President or by any of such Officers; and if the Prisoner shall then object to the President, such Objection shall be referred to the Decision of the Authority by whom such President shall have been appointed; but if he object to any Officer other than the President, such Objection shall be decided by the President and the other Officers so aforesaid appointed to form the Court; and when the Place of the President or other Officer in respect of whom any Challenge shall have been made and allowed shall be supplied by some Officer in respect of whom no Challenge shall have been made or allowed, or if no Challenge whatever shall have been made, or, if made, not allowed, the President and the other Officers composing the Court shall take the Oaths in the Schedule to this Act annexed before the Judge Advocate or his Deputy, or Person officiating as such, and on Trials by other Courts-martial before the President of such Court, who are hereby respectively authorized to administer the same, and any sworn Member may administer the Oath to the President; and as soon as the said Oaths shall have been administered to the respective Members, the President of the Court is hereby authorized and required to administer to the Judge Advocate, or the Person officiating as such, the Oath in the Schedule to this Act annexed; and no Proceeding or Trial shall be had upon any Offence but between the Hours of Eight of the Clock in the Morning and Four in the Afternoon, except in Cases which require an immediate Example, and except in the East Indies, where such Proceedings or Trial may be had between the Hours of Six in the Morning and Four in the Afternoon.

Witnesses.

XV. And be it enacted, That all General and other Courts- Swearing and martial shall have Power and Authority, and are hereby required, summoning to administer an Oath to every Witness or other Person who shall be examined before such Court in any Matter relating to any Proceeding before the same; and every Person, as well Civil as Military, who may be required to give or produce Evidence before a Court-martial, shall, in the Case of General Courts-martial, be summoned by the Judge Advocate General, or his Deputy, or the Person officiating as such, and in the Case of all other Courts-martial, by the President of the Court; and all Persons so summoned and attending as Witnesses before any

Court

Previous Con

victions to be put in Evidence.

12 VICT. Court-martial shall, during their necessary Attendance in or on such Courts, and in going to and returning from the same, be privileged from Arrest, and shall, if unduly arrested, be discharged by the Court out of which the Writ or Process issued by which such Witness was arrested, or if such Court be not sitting, then by any Judge of the Superior Courts of Westminster or Dublin, or the Court of Session in Scotland, or of the Courts of Law in the East or West Indies, or elsewhere, according as the Case shall require, upon its being made to appear to such Court or Judge, by any Affidavit in a summary Way, that such Witness was arrested in going to or returning from or attending upon such Court-martial; and all Witnesses so duly summoned as aforesaid who shall not attend on such Courts, or attending shall refuse to be sworn, or being sworn shall refuse to give Evidence or not produce the Documents under their Power or Control required to be produced by them, or to answer all such Questions as the Court may legally demand of them, shall be liable to be attached in the Court of Queen's Bench in London or Dublin, or the Court of Session, or Sheriff Depute or Stewarts Depute, or their respective Substitutes, within their several Shires and Stewartries, in Scotland, or Courts of Law in the East or West Indies, or in any of Her Majesty's Colonies, Garrisons, or Dominions in Europe or elsewhere respectively, upon Complaint made, in like Manner as if such Witness after having been duly summoned or subpoenaed, had neglected to attend in a Trial in any Proceeding in the Court in which such Complaint shall be made.

XVI. And be it enacted, That after a Prisoner has been found guilty of any Charge or Charges, the Court before which any such Prisoner shall have been tried may, before passing Sentence on such Prisoner, and for the Purpose only of affixing Punishment, receive in Evidence against him any previous Convictions by Courts-martial, and in like Manner and for the like Purpose the Court shall receive in Evidence any previous Conviction of such Prisoner by a Court of ordinary Criminal Jurisdiction, where the Offence charged in the Indictment was of a felonious, fraudulent, or unnatural Nature; and in the Case of Convictions by Courts-martial a Certificate, which shall purport to contain a Copy of the Charges, Finding, and Sentence of the Court, and of the Minute of the Infliction or Remission of all or any Part of such Sentence, made from the original Minutes of such Court, or from the Court-martial Book, and which shall further purport to be signed by the Judge Advocate General or by his Deputy, or by the Officer officiating as such, or by the Officer confirming the Proceedings, or by any competent Staff Officer, in case such Copy be taken from the original Minutes, or by the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, or other Officer having the Custody of the Court-martial Book, in case such Copy be taken from the said Book, shall be sufficient Evidence of such Conviction; and it shall not be necessary to prove the Signature or official Character of the Person appearing to have signed such Certificate, nor, if the Court be satisfied from all the Circum

stances