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NAVAL DESERTERS ACT 1847
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CHAPTER LXII.
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An Act for the Establishment of Naval Prisons, and for the Prevention of Desertion from Her Majesty’s Navy.[2]
[2d July 1847.]
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[Preamble recites that it is expedient that the Admiralty should have power to establish and regulate naval prisons.]
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[Ss. 1–8 rep. 23 & 24 Vict. c. 123. s. 86.]
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Apprehension, &c. of persons suspected to belong to the navy, and to be deserters, or improperly absent from duty.
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9. It shall be lawful for the constable of any place where any person reasonably suspected to belong to her Majesty’s navy, and to be a deserter or improperly absent from his duty, shall be found, or of any adjoining place, and if no such constable can be immediately met with to secure him, then for any person in her Majesty’s service, to apprehend or cause such suspected person to be apprehended, and cause him to be brought before any justice in the United Kingdom, or in any of her Majesty’s dominions or territories, . . . in or near such place, who shall examine such suspected person; and if by his confession, or the testimony of one or more witness or witnesses upon oath, or by the knowledge of such justice, it shall appear that any person brought before him is a person belonging to her Majesty’s navy improperly absent from his duty, such justice shall forthwith cause him to be conveyed to the nearest or most convenient public prison, and shall transmit an account thereof to the Secretary of the Admiralty, or to any commander-in-chief or officer commanding any one of her Majesty’s ships or vessels, with a description of such person and the name of the ship or vessel to which he shall or may be suspected to belong, or if any such offender shall be apprehended by any person in her Majesty’s service, or shall be apprehended in the vicinity of any one of her Majesty’s ships or vessels in commission, then such justice shall order him to be taken on board any such ship or vessel, instead of committing him to prison; and in all cases the justice shall certify the name of the person by whom the offender was apprehended, and such last-mentioned person shall be entitled to a reward for such apprehension, according to the amount which is or may be established by the naval regulations or instructions for the time being in that behalf, or in case the apprehension shall be under circumstances for which no reward is or may be established, the amount of such reward shall be any sum in the discretion of the Lord High Admiral, or the said1
Commissioners, or of the officer commanding the vessel to which the deserter or person who shall have been improperly absent shall belong, not exceeding three pounds, and the reward shall in every case be paid and charged against the wages or pay of any such offender, and stopped out of the same; and for every such information, commitment, or order and account as aforesaid the clerk of the said justice may be entitled to a fee of two shillings and no more, and every gaoler and other person into whose custody any such offender is committed shall immediately upon the receipt of him pay such fee of two shillings, and also, upon the production of a receipt from the medical practitioner who may have been required to examine such suspected person, a fee of two shillings and sixpence, and such sums shall be repaid to such gaoler or other person, and the same, together with sixpence for every day the offender shall be in his custody, which shall be paid to such gaoler or other person, shall be charged against the pay or wages of the offender; and every gaoler or other person having the custody of any such offender shall deliver him up to any person authorized to take charge of him by the Lord High Admiral, or the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral, or by any naval commander-in-chief, or the officer commanding any one of her Majesty’s ships or vessels, and any person so authorized shall convey him in safe custody on board any one of her Majesty’s ships or vessels in commission.
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Fraudulent confession of desertion, &c. from navy.
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10. Any person who shall voluntarily deliver himself up as and confess himself to be a deserter from any one of her Majesty’s ships or vessels, or improperly absent from such ship or vessel, or who while serving in any of her Majesty’s forces, or the embodied militia, . . . shall to any officer or non-commissioned officer thereof confess himself to be a deserter as aforesaid, or improperly absent as aforesaid, or who, upon being apprehended for any offence, shall in the presence of the justice confess himself to be a deserter, or improperly absent from his ship or vessel as aforesaid, and his statement shall not be true, he shall, if received into her Majesty’s naval service, be deemed in her Majesty’s navy, and be liable to serve and be detained therein as if he had voluntarily entered, or in case such person shall not be received into her Majesty’s navy, he shall, on conviction thereof before two justices of the peace, at or near the place where he shall deliver himself up or confess, or where he may at any time happen to be, be adjudged to be punished, if in England, as a rogue and a vagabond, and if in Scotland or Ireland, by commitment to some prison or house of correction, there to be kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding three months.
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[S. 11 rep. 29 & 30 Vict. c. 109. s. 85.]
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Penalty on governors of prisons, &c. for neglect of duty.
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12. Every governor, gaoler, and keeper of any prison, gaol, or house of correction, and every officer having the charge or command of any place, ship, or vessel for imprisonment, who shall refuse or neglect to receive or confine, remove, discharge, or deliver up any prisoner or offender as herein prescribed, shall forfeit for every such refusal or neglect the sum of one hundred pounds.
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Recovery of penalties.
5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76.
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13. All penalties and forfeitures imposed by this Act shall and may be recovered, with costs, either by information or complaint, by summary proceedings before any justice or justices of the peace residing in or near to the place where the offence shall be committed, or where the offender shall at any time happen to be, and whether the offence be committed in or out of her Majesty’s dominions, or within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, or not; and if the sum imposed as a penalty by any such justice or justices shall not be paid either immediately after the conviction or within such reasonable time as such justice or justices shall at the time of the conviction appoint, it shall be lawful for the justice or justices to commit the offender or offenders to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, according to the discretion of such justice or justices, . . . and all penalties and forfeitures recoverable under this Act shall be paid and applied in manner following; (that is to say,) one moiety of such penalty shall be paid to the informer or complainant, and the residue thereof shall be paid of the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital, anything in the Municipal Corporation Act, 1835, or in any other Act or Acts of Parliament to the contrary notwithstanding.
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Attendance of witnesses.
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14. [1]
Any justice or justices of the peace may summon any witness to appear and give evidence before him or them upon any matter cognizable under this Act, at a time and place appointed for hearing the information or complaint, and by warrant under his hand and seal, or their hands and seals, may require any person to be brought before him or them who shall neglect or refuse to appear to give evidence at the time or place appointed in such summons, proof upon oath being first given of personal service of the summons upon the person against whom such warrant shall be granted; and such justice or justices may commit any person coming or brought before him or them who shall refuse to give evidence to any common gaol or house of correction, there to remain without bail or mainprize for any time not exceeding six calendar months, or until such person shall sooner submit himself to be examined, and in case of such submission the order of any such justice or justices shall be sufficient warrant for the discharge of such person.
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[S. 15 rep. 55 & 56 Vict. c. 19. (S.L.R.)]
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No certiorari, &c.
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16. No conviction under this Act shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed by certiorari or otherwise into any of her Majesty’s superior courts of record, and no warrant, commitment, or order for imprisonment shall be held void by reason of any defect therein, provided it be therein alleged that the person has been convicted or ordered to be imprisoned, and there be a good and valid conviction or an offence to sustain the same.
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[S. 17 rep. 38 & 39 Vict. c. 66. (S.L.R.)]
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[2Short title, “The Naval Deserters Act, 1847.” See 55 & 56 Vict. c. 10.]
[i.e., the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral.]
[1 S. 14 except so far as it relates to a proceeding under s. 9. rep. 55 & 56 Vict. c. 19. (S.L.R.)] |
