This clause to be omitted if the power of confirmation is wholly reserved. +May be omitted or varied in accordance with the devolve during your absence, not under the rank of ] from time to time as occasion may require, to convene District Courts-Martial for the trial, in accordance with the said Act and the Rules made thereunder, of any person under your command, who is subject to Military Law and is charged with any offence mentioned in the said Act, and is liable to be tried by a District Court-Martial. may * And I do hereby empower you t[or the Officer on whom your command devolve during your absence, not under the rank of ] to receive the proceedings of such CourtsMartial, and confirm the findings and sentences thereof, and to exercise, as respects these Courts and the persons tried by them, the powers created by the said Act of Parliament in the confirming Officer, in such manner as may be best for the good of His Majesty's Service. And for so doing, this shall be, as well to you as to all others terms of the whom it may concern, a sufficient warrant. Army Act, 8, 123. Given under my hand and seal at day of Signature of } Form of Application for a Court-Martial. under my command, and request you will obtain that a the sanction of at The case was investigated by** The accused is now at Character ist Court I beg to enclose the following documents : 1. § Charge sheet 2. Summary of Evidence. (in duplicate). 3. The regimental and [troop, squadron, battery, or company], conduct sheets of the accused. 4. ¶ List of Witnesses for the prosecution, and defence (with their present stations). ** Here insert name of (a) officer who investigated charge, (b) company, &c., commander who made preliminary inquiry into case, and (c) officer who took down summary of evidence. (R.P. 19 (B) (iii).) + To be filled in if there has been a Court of Inquiry respecting any matters connected with the charges, otherwise to be struck out. To be filled in by the Commanding Officer. $ One copy to be sent to the president; one copy to be filled with the application for trial. In cases of desertion, a statement as to whether the accused was apprehended or surrendered, should be included in the summary of evidence. To be sent to the president. (3), (4), and (5) To be returned to the officer commanding the unit of the accused with the notice of trial. To 5. * Statement as to character, and particulars of service of the accused (Army Form B. 296) to be proved by I have the honour to be, SIR, Your most obedient humble Servant, Signature of Commanding Officer.} (3), (4), and (5) To be returned to the officer commanding the unit of the accused with the notice of trial. MEDICAL OFFICER'S CERTIFICATE. I certify that No. state of health and Regiment is in a to undergo Imprisonment, and with or without hard labour; and that his present appearance and previous medical history both justify the belief, that hard labour employment will neither be likely to originate nor to reproduce disease of any description. Signature of the Medical Officer. Order in Council respecting Discipline on board H.M.'s Ships, At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 6th day of PRESENT: THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL. WHEREAS there was this day read at the Board a Memorial from the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, dated the 3rd of February, 1882, in the words following, viz. :— "WHEREAS by the 88th section of an Act passed in the 29th and 30th years of Your Majesty's reign, chapter 109, entitled An Act to make Provision for the Discipline of the Navy, it is enacted that Your Majesty's land forces, when embarked on board any of Your Majesty's ships, shall be subject to the provisions of that Act to such extent and under such regulations as Your Majesty by Order in Council shall direct ; "And whereas under Articles 1172, 1173, and 1174 of the Regulations for the Government of Your Majesty's Naval Service, established under Your Majesty's Order in Council dated the 4th day of February, 1879, certain rules were laid down for the discipline of Your Majesty's land forces when embarked as passengers in any of Your Majesty's ships; "And whereas we, having had the said rules under our careful consideration, are humbly of opinion that it would be for the advantage of Your Majesty's Service that the said rules should be amended, we therefore beg leave to recommend that Your Majesty will be graciously pleased by Your Order in Council to direct that the said rules shall be cancelled, and that the following Regulations shall be established in lieu thereof : "1. Whenever any of Your Majesty's land forces shall be embarked as passengers in any of Your Majesty's ships, the officers Order in Order in and soldiers shall, from the time of embarkation, strictly observe Council. the laws and regulations established for the government and discipline of Your Majesty's Navy, and shall, for these purposes, be under the command of the commanding officer of the ship, as well as of the senior naval officer present; and all military officers or other persons under the equivalent rank of Captain of Your Majesty's Navy taking passages, and all military officers in actual command for the time being of any of the troops embarked, through whom orders to the troops (given by the officer of the watch) are required to pass, shall be under the command of the officer of the watch. "2. Any act against the good order and discipline of the ship shall be deemed an act to the prejudice of good order and military discipline under the 40th section of the Army Act, 1881, unless the breach of discipline constitutes some other military offence for which provision is otherwise made in the said Act. "3. Whenever an officer or soldier commits any act against the good order and discipline of the ship, the commanding officer of the ship may, by his own authority, and without reference to any other person, cause him to be put under arrest or confined as a close prisoner; and may, if he thinks the case requires it, order the prisoner to be disembarked at the first convenient opportunity, transmitting a report in writing, through the senior naval officer present, to the senior military officer in command of the land forces, in order that the offender may be brought before a military court-martial. "4. The commanding officer of the ship shall have full power, on his own authority to order an offender, whether officer or soldier, to be placed in either naval or military custody, as he shall consider most desirable, observing that in all cases where an offender is to be disembarked for trial by military authority, he must be placed in military custody on board the ship. "5. If any officer or soldier commits any act which, in the opinion of the commanding officer of the troops, can only be adequately dealt with by a general or district court-martial, the offender shall, with the concurrence of the commanding officer of the ship, be disembarked on the first opportunity for the purpose of being proceeded against according to military law. "6. If any private soldier shall commit any act against the good order and discipline of the ship, which in the opinion of the commanding officer of the ship requires the infliction of any summary punishment for which a warrant is required by the Summary Punishment Table attached hereto, and which he is hereby authorised to award, the commanding officer of the ship shall confer with the commanding officer of the troops as to the nature and amount of such punishment, if any, to be inflicted, and on their concurrence the commanding officer of the ship shall, by warrant under his hand, which should also bear the signature of the officer commanding the troops as concurring, sentence the offender to suffer such punishment accordingly. In the event of the commanding officer of the troops not concurring with the commanding officer of the ship, the commanding officer of the ship is to cause the offender to be placed under arrest or confined as a close prisoner, until the case can be referred to superior military authority. "7. If any non-commissioned officer shall commit an offence which, in the opinion of the commanding officer of the ship and the officer commanding the troops, does not require trial by general or district court-martial, the commanding officer of the ship may, by an order in writing, authorise the officer commanding the troops Order in to convene a regimental court-martial for the trial of such non- Council. commissioned officer, and thereupon the trial may proceed, and the finding and sentence may be confirmed in all respects as if the court had been convened and the sentence had been passed in the United Kingdom. "Provided that no sentence of any such regimental courtmartial shall be carried into execution on board any of Your Majesty's ships until the commanding officer of the ship has, by an order in writing, expressed his concurrence in the said sentence, and directed that it may be carried into effect. "If the commanding officer of the ship shall see fit to withhold the last-named order in writing, the confirming officer shall suspend the execution of the sentence until the disembarkation of the prisoner. "Whenever such regimental court-martial is held on board, the captain of the ship is to report immediately by special letter on each case to the Admiralty, a copy of which letter shall accompany the quarterly returns of punishment. "8. The commanding officer of the troops, on his taking command of the troops embarked, will receive from the captain of the ship authority under his hand, and in the established form, to award such summary punishments as are specified in the Summary Punishment Table for the military, but such authority will not deprive the captain of his right to withdraw the original authority given; in the latter case, however, he should report to the Admiralty the circumstances which induced him to deviate from the general rule. "9. All orders to the troops are, so far as may be practicable, to be given through their own officers and non-commissioned officers, and the commanding officer of the ship is to bear in mind that although the discipline of all on board is under his entire control, he is nevertheless to leave the troops to the management of their own officers, so far as may be consistent with the order and discipline of the ship. "10. In special and exceptional cases, where the commanding officer of the ship may deem it necessary for the good order or discipline of the ship to give such orders as may interfere with existing regulations, or may affect the internal economy and discipline of the troops embarked, he is to make a special report of the circumstances to the Admiralty. "11. When any soldiers of Your Majesty's land forces are embarked as passengers in any of Your Majesty's ships, and there is no commissioned officer of the land forces on board, the commanding officer of the ship shall possess and may exercise in regard to any such soldiers all the powers conferred upon him by Article 6 in the case of private soldiers without conferring with or obtaining the concurrence or signature of any officer of Your Majesty's land forces. "12. All summary punishments for soldiers embarked on board Your Majesty's ships shall be in strict accordance with the Summary Punishment Table appended to this Order in Council. "13. Military convicts and military prisoners when embarked on board Your Majesty's ships for passage shall be kept in military custody. "Your Majesty's Secretary of State for War and his Royal Highness the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief have signified to us their concurrence in these proposals." Number SUMMARY PUNISHMENT TABLE.* "DESCRIPTION of SUMMARY PUNISHMENTS to be awarded to PRIVATE SOLDIERS when embarked in Authorised Summary Punishments for Private Soldiers. By whom to be If Warrant required. Military Equivalent. Remarks. Council. Order in 1. Imprisonment, with or without hard labour (not to exceed Captain 42 days). Yes Imprisonment with or The offender loses a Confinement in a Cell (not to exceed 14 days)... Stoppage of smoking. Eating meals under' Officer command- No Captain Badge for any im- by Court- Loss of a Badge. Confinement to Barracks Day for Day. If confined for more Minor Summary Punishments. Stoppage of smoking. Answer Roll Call every 7. Fines for Drunkenness, as provided for in Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Army. Extra Guards for Blackness, Inattention on Guard, as in Note.-A Private Soldier may be admonished, and a Non-Commissioned Officer reprimanded by the Officer Commanding the Troops." * This Table is printed with the amendments consequent on the abolition of a liquor ration to soldiers on board ship, made by Order in Council, 30th June, 1890. |