Of what numbers a court-martial shall consist. The Lords of the Admiralty or officer appointed to hold courtsmartial, not to direct the particular number of of Great Britain or Ireland, to hold Courts-martial in any such Port, provided such Flag Officer or Captain be the First, Second, or Third in Command in such Port, as shall be found most expedient, and for the good of his Majesty's Service; and such Flag Officer or Captain so directed to hold Courts-martial, shall preside at such Court-martial; any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 22 G. 2. c. 33. s. 11. From and after 25th December 1749, no Court-martial to be held or appointed by virtue of this present Act, shall consist of more than Thirteen or of less than Five Persons, to be composed of such Flag Officers, Captains, or Commanders then and there present, as are next in Seniority to the Officer who presides at the Court-martial. s. 12. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to authorize or empower the Lord High Admiral, or the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, or any Officer empowered to order or persons of which hold Courts-martial, to direct or ascertain the particular Number of persons of which any Court-martial, to be held or appointed by virtue of this present Act, shall consist. s. 13. the court is to consist. Where there are rank of post captains, the president is to call in as many commanders under that rank Provided always, that in case any Court-martial shall by but three of the virtue of this Act be appointed to be held at any Place where there are not less than Three, nor yet so many as Five Officers of the Degree and Denomination of a Post Captain, or of a superior Rank, to be found, then it shall be lawful for the Officer as will make five at the Place appointed for holding such Court-martial, who is to preside at the same, to call to his assistance as many of the Commanders of his Majesty's Vessels, under the Rank and Degree of a Post Captain, as, together with the Post Captains then and there present, will make up the Number of Five, to hold such Court-martial. s. 14. in the whole to hold the court martial. By s. 15. no Member of the Court shall go on shore after the commencement of any Trial, till Sentence be given, on pain of being cashiered; nor shall the Proceedings of the Court be delayed by the Absence of any of its Members, if a sufficient number remain to compose the Court. This Section is repealed by Stat. 19 G. 3. c. 17. s. 1. And by the Second Section of this latter Act, the Proceedings of any Court-martial shall not be delayed by the absence of any of its Members, provided a sufficient Number doth remain to compose such Court, which shall and is hereby required to sit from Day to Day (Sunday always excepted) until the sentence be given; and no member of the said Court-martial shall absent himself from the said Court dur ing the whole course of the Trial, upon pain of being cashiered from his Majesty's Service, except in case of sickness or other extraordinary and indispensable occasion, to be judged of by the same Court. court-martial to From and after 25th December 1749, upon all Trials of Members of Offenders by any Court-martial, all the Officers present who be sworn. are to constitute the said Court-martial shall, before they proceed to such Trial, take such Oath as is herein-after mentioned upon the Holy Evangelists, before the Court; which Oath the Judge Advocate, or his Deputy, or the Person appointed to officiate as such, is hereby authorized and required to administer, in the Words following; (that is to say), "I, A. B. do swear, that I will duly administer Justice, according to the Articles and Orders established by an Act passed in the Twenty-second Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Second, for amending, explaining, and reducing into one Act of Parliament, the Laws relating to the Government of His Majesty's Ships, Vessels, and Forces by Sea, without Partiality, Favour, or Affection; and if any Case shall arise, which is not particularly mentioned in the said Articles and Orders, I will duly administer Justice according to my Conscience, the best of my Understanding, and the Custom of the Navy in the like Cases: And I do further swear, that I will not upon any Account, at any time whatsoever, disclose or discover the Vote or Opinion of any particular Member of this Court-martial, unless thereunto required by Act of Parliament. So help me God." to be sworn. And so soon as the said Oath shall have been administered to Judge Advocate 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, an Oath in the following Words: "I, A. B. do swear, that I will not upon any Account, at Oath. any time whatsoever, disclose or discover the Vote or Opinion of any particular Member of this Court-martial, unless thereunto required by Act of Parliament. So help me God." 22 G. 2. c. 33. s. 16. Persons refusing to give evidence, having con From and after 25th December 1749, in case any Person in the Fleet, being called upon to give Evidence at any Courtmartial, shall refuse to give his Evidence upon Oath, or shall prevaricate in his Evidence, or behave with Contempt to the temptuously,may Court, it shall and may be lawful for such Court-martial to be punished by punish every such Offender by Imprisonment, at the Discretion martial; the court or being guilty of perjury, or subornation of perjury, may be prosecuted for the same in K. B. as under 5 Eliz. c. 9. s. 3. and Three Months, in case of such Refusal or Prevarication, nor longer than one Month in the case of such Contempt; and that all and every Person and Persons who shall commit any wilful Perjury, in any Evidence or Examination upon Oath at any such Court-martial, or who shall corruptly procure or suborn any Person to commit such wilful Perjury, shall and may be prosecuted in his Majesty's Court of King's Bench, by Indictment or Information; and every Issue joined in any such Indictment or Information shall be tried by good and lawful Men of the County of Middlesex, or such other County as the said Court of 2 G. 2. c. 25. s. 2. King's Bench shall direct; and all and every Person and Persons, being lawfully convicted upon any such Indictment or Information, shall be punished with such Pains and Penalties as are inflicted for the like Offences respectively by two Acts of Parliament [5 Eliz. c. 9. s. 3. and 2 G. 2. c. 25. s. 2.] 22 G. 2. c. 33. s. 17. In every Information or Indictment, to be prosecuted by virtue of this Act for any such Offence, it shall be sufficient to set forth the Offence charged upon the Defendant, without setting forth the Commission or Authority for holding the Court-martial, and without setting forth the particular matter tried or to be tried, or directed or intended to be tried before such Court. s. 18. Form of the indictinent. Report to be made to the Lords &c. before sentence of death (except in cases of mutiny) given by any courtmartial, be executed. From and after the 25th December 1749, no Sentence of Death of the Admiralty, given by any Court-martial held within the Narrow Seas (except in cases of Mutiny) shall be put in execution till after the Report of the Proceedings of the said Court shall have been made to the Lord High Admiral, or the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral, and his or their Directions shall have been given therein; and if the said Court shall have been held beyond the Narrow Seas, then such Sentence of Death shall not be carried into execution but by order of the Commander of the Fleet or Squadron wherein Sentence was passed; and in cases where Sentence of Death shall be passed in any Squadron detached from any other Fleet or Squadron upon a separate Service, then such Sentence of Death (except in cases of Mutiny) · shall not be put in execution, but by order of the Commander of the Fleet or Squadron from which such detachment shall have been made, or of the Lord High Admiral, or Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral; and in cases where Sentence of Death_shall be passed in any Court-martial held by the senior Officer of five or more of his Majesty's Ships which shall happen to meet together in foreign parts, pursuant to the power herein-before given, then such Sentence of Death (except in cases of Mutiny) shall not be carried into execution but by order of the Lord High Admiral, or Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral. 22 G. 2. c. 33. s. 19. or his Deputy, administer an And be it further and declared, that from and after the 25th Judge Advocate, December 1749, the Judge Advocate of any Fleet for the time empowered to being, or his Deputy, shall have full power and authority, and oath to witnesses. is hereby required to administer an Oath to any Witness at any Trial by Court-martial: And in the absence of the Judge Advocate and his Deputy, the Court-martial shall have full power and authority to appoint any person to execute the office of Judge Advocate. s. 20. to be in force lost or destroyed. officers and men who have be From and after the 25th December 1749, all the powers given The powers given by the several articles and orders established by this Act shall by the articles, remain and be in full force with respect to the Crews of such of his with respect to crews of ships Majesty's Ships as shall be wrecked, or be otherwise lost or destroyed; and all the command, power, and authority given to the Officers of the said Ship or Ships shall remain and be in full force as effectually as if such Ship or Ships to which they did belong were not so wrecked, lost, or destroyed, until they shall be regularly discharged from his Majesty's further Service, or removed into some other of his Majesty's Ships of War, or until a Courtmartial shall be held, pursuant to the custom of the Navy in such cases, to enquire into the causes of the loss of the said Ship or Ships: And if upon such Enquiry it shall appear by the Sentence The pay of the of the Court-martial that all or any of the Officers or Seamen of of such ships, the said Ship or Ships did their utmost to preserve, get off, or haved well, rerecover the said Ship or Ships, and since the loss thereof have served to them. behaved themselves obediently to their superior Officers, according to the Discipline of the Navy and the said Articles and Orders herein-before established, then all the Pay and Wages of the said Officers and Seamen, or of such of them as shall have done their Duty as aforesaid, shall continue and go on, and be paid to the time of their Discharge or Death; or if they shall be then alive, to the time of the holding of such Court-martial, or removal into some other of his Majesty's Ships of War; and every such Officer and Seaman of any of his Majesty's Ships of War, who, after the Wreck or Loss of his Ship, shall act contrary to the Discipline of the Navy, and the several Articles and Orders herein-before established, or any of them, shall be sentenced by the said Court-martial, and punished as if the Ship to which he did belong was not so wrecked, lost, or destroyed. s. 21. officers and men From and after the said 25th December 1749, all the Pay and The pay of the Wages of such Officers and Seamen of any of his Majesty's Ships taken by the behaved well, re served to them. enemy, who have as are taken by the enemy, and upon enquiry at a Court-martial shall appear by the Sentence of the said Court to have done their utmost to defend the said Ship or Ships, and since the taking thereof, to have behaved themselves obediently to their superior Officers, according to the Discipline of the Navy, and the said Articles and Orders herein-before established, shall continue and go on and be paid, from the time of their being so taken, to the time of the holding of such Court-martial, or until they shall be regularly discharged from his Majesty's Service, or removed into some other of his Majesty's Ships of War, or (if they shall die in Captivity, or not live to the time of the holding of such Courtmartial) to the time of their Death, in such manner, and not otherwise, as if the said Ship or Ships to which they did belong respectively, was not or were not so taken. 22 G. 2. c. 33. s. 22. Provided always, that no person or persons not flying from Justice shall be tried or punished by any Court-martial for any Offence to be committed against this Act, unless the Complaint of such Offence be made in Writing to the Lord High Admiral, or to the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral for the time being, or any Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Squadrons or Ships empowered to hold Courts-martial, or unless a Court-martial to try such Offender shall be ordered three years after by the said Lord High Admiral, or the said Commissioners, or the said Commander in Chief, either within Three Years after such Offence shall be committed, or within One Year after the Return of the Ship or of the Squadron to which such Offender ship or offender. shall belong, into any of the Ports of Great Britain or Ireland, or within One Year after the Return of such Offender into Great Britain or Ireland. s. 23. No person, not flying from justice, to be tried, unless complaint in writing be made to the Lords of the Admiralty, &c. or a court be ordered within the offence, or within one year after the return of the See ante article 18. And whereas by the Act (8 G. 1. c. 24.) it is amongst other things enacted in the following words (s. 9.), that the said Captain, Commander, or other Officer of the said Ship or Vessel of War, and all and every the Owners and Proprietors of such Goods and Merchandizes put on board such Ship or Vessel of War as aforesaid, shall lose, forfeit, and pay the Value of all and every such Goods and Merchandizes so put on board as aforesaid; one Moiety of such full Value to such person or persons as shall make the first Discovery and give Information of or concerning the said Offence, the other Moiety of such full Value to and for the Use of Greenwich Hospital; all which Forfeitures shall and may be sued for and recovered in the High Court of Admiralty: Now, for making the said in part recited Act more useful and effectual, be it enacted, that from and after the 25th |