Foreign Steam

ing Passengers

Coastwise to

Tolls, Rates, or other Charges whatsoever, or to any other Rules as to the Employment of Pilots, or any other Rules or Restrictions whatsoever, than British Ships employed in like Manner, or Goods carried in such Ships, any Law, Charter, special Privilege, or Grant to the contrary notwithstanding; nor shall any Body Corporate or Person having or claiming any Right or Title to any such higher or other Rates, Dues, Duties, Tolls, or other Charges as aforesaid be entitled to any Compensation in respect thereof under any Law or Statute relating thereto, or otherwise howsoever.

IV. And whereas it is expedient to provide for the Safety Vessels carry of Passenger Steamers: Be it enacted, That every Foreign Steam Vessel carrying Passengers from one Place to another on the Coasts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Provisions Ireland and the Channel Islands shall be subject to the Provisions of the Steam Navigation Act, 1851.

be subject to

of 14 & 15 Vict. C. 79.

W

CAP. VI.

An Act for the Regulation of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces while on shore, [23 March 1854.] THEREAS it is judged necessary for the Safety of the United Kingdom, and the Defence of the Possessions of this Realm, that a Body of Royal Marine Forces should be employed in Her Majesty's Flect and Naval Service, under the Direction of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, or the Commissioners for executing the Office of 'Lord High Admiral aforesaid: And whereas the said Forces 'may frequently be quartered or be on shore, or sent to do Duty or be on board Transport Ships or Merchant Ships or Vessels, or Ships or Vessels of Her Majesty, or other Ships or Vessels, or they may be under other Circumstances in which they will not be subject to the Laws relating to the 'Government of Her Majesty's Forces by Sea: 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 the Judgment of his Peers, and according to the known and established Laws of this Realm; yet nevertheless it being requisite for the ' retaining of such Forces in their Duty that an exact Discipline be observed, and that Marines who shall mutiny or stir up 'Sedition, or shall desert Her Majesty's Service, or be guilty of any other Crime in breach of good Order and Discipline, be brought to a more exemplary and speedy Punishment than the usual Forms of the Law will allow, or be guilty of Crimes and Offences to the Prejudice of Good Order and Military Discipline:' 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. That

may make

tion, &c.

I. That it shall be lawful for the said Lord High Admiral, Lord High or the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Adiniral, &c. Admiral aforesaid, to make, ordain, and establish Rules and Articles for the Articles of War, under the Hand of the said Lord High Punishment of Admiral, or under the Hands of any Two or more of the said futiny, DeserCommissioners, for the better Government of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces, and for the Punishment of Mutiny, Desertion, Immorality, Breach of Discipline, Misbehaviour, Neglect of Duty, and any other Offence or Misconduct of which they shall be guilty, in any Place on shore or afloat in or out of Her Majesty's Dominions, or at any Time when or under any Circumstances in which they shall not be amenable to the Laws for the Government of Her Majesty's Ships, Vessels, and Forces by Sea, which Rules and Articles shall be judicially taken notice of by all Judges and in all Courts whatsoever; and Copies of the same shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the same shall have been made, be transmitted by the Secretary of the Admiralty for the Time being (certified under his Hand) 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 the British Isles shall by such Articles be subject to be transported as a Felon or to suffer any Punishment extending to Life or Limb, except for Crimes which are by this Act expressly made liable to such Transportation or to euch Punishment as aforesaid, or shall be subject, with reference to any Crimes mado punishable by this Act, to be punished in any Manner which shall not accord with the Provisions of this Act.

Mutiny Acts

II. All Crimes and Offences committed against any former Offences Act made for the Regulation of the Royal Marine Forces while against former on shore, or against any of the Rules, Regulations, or Articles and Articles of of War made and established by virtue of the same, may, War. during the Continuance of this Act, be tried, inquired of, and punished in like Manner as if they had been committed against this Act: and every Warrant for holding any Court-martial under any former Act shall remain in full Force notwithstanding the Expiration of such Act; and all Proceedings of any Courtmartial upon any Trial begun under the Authority of such former Act shall not be discontinued by the Expiration of the same: Provided always, that no Person shall be liable to be Limitation as tried and punished for any Offence against any of the said Acts to Time. or Articles of War which shall appear to have been committed more than Three Years before the Date of the Commission or Warrant for such Trial, unless the Person accused, by reason of his having absented himself, or of some other manifest Impediment, shall not have been amenable to Justice within that Period, in which Case such Person shall be liable to be tried at any Time not exceeding Two Years after the Impediment shall have ceased; and provided also, that if any Officer or Marine in any Place beyond the Seas shall commit any of the

Offences

Act to extend

Offences punishable by Court-martial under this Act, and shall escape and come or be brought into this Realm before he be tried for the same, he shall, when apprehended, be tried for the same as if such Offence had been committed within this Realm. III. This Act shall extend to the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, to Jersey, &c. 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 Trial and Punishment of Officers and Marines 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 fraudulently confess themselves to be Deserters, or who shall conceal Deserters, or shall knowingly buy, exchange, or otherwise receive any Arms, Clothes, Military Furniture, or Regimental Necessaries from any Marine or Deserter, or who shall cause the Colour of any such Clothes to be changed; and also to the Provisions for exempting Marines 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.

The ordinary
Course of Law

fered with.

IV. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to extend to not to be inter- exempt any Officer or Marine from being proceeded against by the ordinary Course of Law when accused of Felony, or when accused of any Misdemeanor other than the Misdemeanor of refusing to comply with an Order of Justices for the Payment of Money; and any Commanding Officer who shall neglect or refuse, when due Application shall be made to him for that Purpose, to deliver over to the Civil Magistrate any Officer or Marine, or who shall wilfully obstruct, neglect, or refuse to assist any Peace Officer in apprehending any such Offender, shall, upon Conviction thereof in any of Her Majesty's Courts at Westminster, Dublin, or Edinburgh, be deemed to be thereupon cashiered, and shall be utterly disabled to hold any Civil or Military Office or Employment in Her Majesty's Service: and a Certificate of such Conviction shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Admiralty.

No Person tried

by Civil Power to be punished by Court-martial for same

Offence except by cashiering.

V. No Person who shall have been tried before any of the ordinary Courts of Law for any Crime cognizable in such Courts shall be liable to be punished for the same by any Court-martial otherwise than by cashiering; and whenever any Officer or Marine shall have been tried before a Court of ordinary Criminal Jurisdiction, the Clerk of the Court or other Officer having the Custody of the Records of such Court, or the Deputy of such Clerk, shall, if required by the Officer commanding the Division to which such Officer or Marine belongs, transmit to him a Certificate containing the Substance and Effect only, omitting the formal Part, of the Indictment, Con

viction,

viction, and Entry of Judgment thereon or Acquittal of such Officer or Marine, and shall be allowed for such Certificate a Fee of Three Shillings.

VI. All of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces shall, during Marines to be the Time they shall be respectively borne on the Books of any Discipline of subject to the of Her Majesty's Ships or Vessels in Commission, either as the Navy while Part of the Complement or as Supernumeraries, or otherwise, on board Ship. be subject and liable in every respect to the Laws for the Government of Her Majesty's Forces by Sea, and to the Rules and Discipline of the Royal Navy, and shall and may be proceeded against and punished for Offences committed by them whilst so borne, in the same Manner as the Officers and Seamen employed in the Royal Navy may be tried or punished; except when and so long as any Marine Officers or Marines shall be landed from any of Her Majesty's Ships, and be employed in Military Operations on shore, and when on such Occasions the senior Naval Officer present shall deem it expedient to issue an Order declaring that such Marine Officers and Marines shall during such Employment on shore be subject to the Regulations of this Act, in which Cases, and while such Order shall remain in force, they shall be subject to such Regulations, and be tried and punished under this Act accordingly, for any Offences to be committed by them while so on shore: Provided always, that if any Marine Officer or Marine so borne on the Books of any of Her Majesty's Ships or otherwise shall commit any Offence for which he shall not be amenable to a Naval Court-martial, he may be tried and punished for the same in the same Manner as other Marines may be tried and punished for the like Offences under the Authority of this Act.

Commissions

VII. It shall be lawful for the said Lord High Admiral, Lord High or the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, &c, Admiral aforesaid, from Time to Time to grant Commissions may grant or Warrants under the Hand of the said Lord High Admiral, for holding or under the Hands of any Two or more of the said Com- General Courtsmissioners, for the holding of Gencral and other Courts-martial martial, &c. within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and elsewhere out of the same, in like Manner as has been heretofore used, and for bringing Offenders against this Act and the Articles of War to Justice, and to erect and constitute Courtsmartial as well within the said United Kingdom and the British Isles as in any of Her Majesty's Garrisons or Dominions or elsewhere beyond the Seas, and to grant Commissions or Warrants to the Officer or Officers commanding in chief or commanding for the Time being any of Her Majesty's Royal Marine Forces, as well within the said United Kingdom as Her Majesty's other Dominions, and in any Foreign Parts out of the same Dominions, for convening, as well as for authorizing any Officer to convene, Courts-martial, as Occasion may require, for the Trial of Offences committed by any of the Royal Marine Forces, whether the same shall have been committed before or after such Officer shall have taken upon himself such Command,

the

General Courtsmartial.

District or
Garrison
Courts-martial.

Divisional and
Detachment
Courts-martial.

the Officer so authorized not being however below the Degree of a Field Officer, except in the Settlements on 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 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 of the Articles of War, may be tried and punished for the same in any Part of Her Majesty's Dominions, or other Place where he may have come or be after the Commission of the Offence, as if the Offence had been committed where such Trial shall take place.

VIII. A General Court-martial convened in Saint Helena, the Settlements on the Western Coast of Africa, Honduras, New Zealand, the Australian Colonies, Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca, and the Settlements on the Coast of China, shall consist of not less than Five Commissioned Officers; if convened in Jamaica, the Windward and Leeward Islands, British Guiana, Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Cape of Good Hope or other Settlements in Southern Africa, or in any Part out of the Queen's Dominions, excepting the Ionian Islands and the Parts before mentioned, it shall consist of not less than Seven, and if convened in any other Part of the Queen's Dominions, or in the Ionian Islands, or in 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.

IX. A District or Garrison Court-martial shall consist of not less than Seven Commissioned Officers, except in Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Cape of Good Hope or other Settlements in Southern Africa, Saint Helena, Jamaica, Honduras, Newfoundland, New Zealand, the Australian Colonies, the Windward and Leeward Islands, British Guiana, Hong Kong, and the Settlements on the Coast of China, where it may consist of not less than Five Commissioned Officers, and in the Settlements on the Western Coast of Africa, where it may consist of not less than Three Commissioned Officers; and such Court-martial shall have the same Power as a General Court-martial to sentence any Marine to such Punishments as shall accord with the Provisions of this Act; provided that the Sentence of a District or Garrison Court-martial shall be confirmed by the General Officer, Governor, or Senior Officer in Command of the District, Garrison, Island, or Colony, and that such Court-martial shall not have Power to try a Commissioned Officer, nor to pass any Sentence of Death or Transportation.

X. A Divisional or Detachment Court-martial shall consist of not less than Five Officers, unless it be found to be imprac ticable to assemble that Number, when Three shall be sufficient, and shall have Power to sentence any Marine to Corporal Punishment,