The Mutiny Acts were an almost 200-year series of annual

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

passed by the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

, the Parliament of Great Britain, and the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

for governing, regulating, provisioning, and funding the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and later

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. The first Mutiny Act was passed in 1689 in response to the mutiny of a large portion of the army which stayed loyal to James II upon William III taking the crown of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The Mutiny Act, altered in 1803, and the Articles of War defined the nature and punishment of mutiny until the latter were replaced by the Army Discipline and Regulation Act 1879. In 1881, this was in turn replaced by The

Army Act Until 1689, mutiny was regulated in England by Articles of War instituted by the monarch and effective only in a period of war. This abuse of the crown's prerogative (the crown's right to make and enforce rules for the military) caused Parliamen ...

- ''An Act to consolidate the Army Discipline and Regulation Act, 1879, and the subsequent Acts amending the Same''. This was extended or amended or consolidated annually (the most recent update having been made in 1995). Today, mutiny by British forces is punished under the

Armed Forces Act 2006 The Armed Forces Act 2006 (c 52) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into force on 31 October 2006. It replaces the three separate Service Discipline Acts (the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discip ...

. Depending on events, additions, and changes within the established system more than one Mutiny Act might be passed within a given year. Within the empire specific geographical disturbances were sometimes governed by specific Acts, such as the Mutiny,

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

Act 1754 (27 Geo 2 c 9), or the Mutiny, America Act from 1765 (5 Geo 3 c 33) to 1776 (16 Geo 3 c 11). A closely related series of Marine Mutiny Acts starting in 1755 (28 Geo 2 c 11) would regulate His Majesty's Marine Forces while on shore, and continue well into the 19th century.

Background

During the Middle Ages, European rulers applied the same laws to both civilian and military populations. Because of this,

military law Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodie ...

(law governing armed forces) and martial law (control of society by the military) were not independent legal approaches. Rulers began separating the laws governing the civilian population and the laws for the armed forces as the medieval period drew to a close. In England,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

's ''Aural Regis'' (or King's Court) assisted him in ruling both his armed forces and the English population. Over time, this court divided and developed specialized legal expertise. King Edward I created a

Court of Chivalry His Majesty's High Court of Chivalry is a civil law (i.e., non common law) court in English and Welsh law with jurisdiction over matters of heraldry. The court has been in existence since the fourteenth century; however, it rarely sits. The so ...

headed by the Lord High Constable and the

Earl Marshal Earl marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the U ...

, two members of the King's Court. This Court of Chivalry was given authority over cases of military law, chivalry, heraldry, and murder or high treason overseas. The army was seen as the crown's personal force. Its governance, as a military force, was the crown's

royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...

. The crown governed the military by publishing

articles of war The Articles of War are a set of regulations drawn up to govern the conduct of a country's military and naval forces. The first known usage of the phrase is in Robert Monro's 1637 work ''His expedition with the worthy Scot's regiment called Mac- ...

. These articles applied to the army during a specific war or campaign. The Court of Chivalry assisted the crown by preparing these articles and enforcing them. Therefore, military law could and would change depending on the campaign or war. Although harsh, the articles were clear in their expectations for military personnel. Meanwhile, courts of equity and

courts of common law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

developed and were given authority to govern civilians.

Common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

did not have rules specific to military forces and common law courts could not apply military rules. However, prior to the

Petition of Right The Petition of Right, passed on 7 June 1628, is an English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state, reportedly of equal value to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689. It was part of a wider ...

, and especially during the reign of the

Tudors The House of Tudor was a royal house of largely Welsh and English origin that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd and Catherine of France. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and its ...

and Stuarts, the crown would applied articles of war (which defined the military law) against civilians in Britain in trials administered by courts-martial (an exercise of martial law). The capricious use of harsh military law by the crown against civilians included the imposition of the death penalty. The practice of enforcing military law against civilians and the usurpation of common-law courts' authority by courts-martial caused an outcry. The lack of a distinction between military law and martial law caused English legal minds to attack the exercise of military law during peacetime.

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...

complained, This abuse of the crown's prerogative (the crown's right to make and enforce rules for the military) caused Parliament to pass the

in 1628. This Act stated that neither civilians nor soldiers and officers who were in England during peace were subject to military courts or law. Only common-law courts and courts of equity could exercise authority over individuals in peacetime England. Because the articles of war did not fall under these court's jurisdiction, military law couldn't be applied to anyone in England, whether soldier or civilian.

Passage of the first Mutiny Act

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

replaced

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution. The

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

was the only unit in which the majority of personnel remained loyal to James II, whom they held to still be the true monarch. The regiment's Commanding Officer, Colonel George Douglas, 1st Earl of Dumbarton, followed James II into exile and one of William's subordinates, Frederick Schomberg, was appointed Colonel. While awaiting transport from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, the regiment mutinied on 15 March 1689 and marched home (the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a l ...

still being strictly an independent country), refusing to obey orders from William III to fight in Holland. The mutinous troops were located in England during peacetime so only common law and courts of equity had authority over them. However, these courts' power did not include the ability to enforce penalties against mutiny (which was a military law crime and not a common law crime). Therefore, no legal action could be taken to stop or punish the troops. Parliament responded by passing the Mutiny Act 1688 (1 Will & Mar c 5 ). This Act made desertion, mutiny, and sedition of officers and soldiers crimes triable by court-martial in peacetime England and made such crimes punishable by death. The passage of this Act initiated the codification of military law in Great Britain. Payment for quartering the troops was first included in the Mutiny Act 1692 (4 Will & Mar c 13).

Renewal of the Mutiny Acts

Because the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

, while prohibiting the existence of a standing army during peacetime without the consent of Parliament, did not prohibit the same in time of war, the Mutiny Act was expressly limited to one year's duration, so that, in either case, war or peace, military discipline could not be enforced, thereby making a standing army impossible for the crown to maintain. As a result, Parliament annually passed a new Mutiny Act. The Articles of War, published by the crown, continued to govern military forces outside colonies overseas while the Mutiny Acts imposed military law on military forces in peacetime England. Many other changes occurred during this transition from

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism (European history), Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute pow ...

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

, which were "products of the exigencies and opportunities of the quarter century of warfare on the grand scale that commenced with the accession of William and Mary, when England, and then Britain, was able "to set out such Fleets and Armies as were never heard of among our Ancestors."" A new Mutiny Act was passed each year until 1879. The Mutiny Act was modified early on to allow courts-martial for other military crimes besides mutiny, sedition, and desertion. Modifications to the Mutiny Act allowed courts-martial trial of soldiers for acts prohibited by the Crown’s articles of war, as long as the articles conformed to the Mutiny Act 1718. Civilians who were closely associated to the military, such as victuallers, could also be tried by courts-martial. In 1807 all serving black soldiers recruited as slaves in the

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

s of the British Army were freed under that year's Mutiny Act.

The Quartering Acts

The Mutiny Acts 1765 and 1774 are better known as

Quartering Act The Quartering Acts were two or more Acts of British Parliament requiring local governments of Britain's North American colonies to provide the British soldiers with housing and food. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny A ...

s because of the changes which added quartering requirements for British troops in the American Colonies, beyond what the Army had provided.

List

*The Mutiny Act 1703 (2 & 3 Anne c 20) *The Mutiny Act 1842 (5 & 6 Vict c 12) *The Mutiny Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict c 11) *The Mutiny Act 1859 (22 Vict c 4) *The Mutiny Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict c 9)This Act was repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1875 The Statute Law Revision Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c 66) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill for this Act was the Statute Law Revision Bill. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The enactments ...

*The Mutiny Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict c 7) *The Mutiny Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict c 5) *The Mutiny Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict c 8) *The Mutiny Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict c 3) *The Mutiny Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict c 11) *The Mutiny Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict c 9) *The Mutiny Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict c 13) *The Mutiny Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict c 14) *The Mutiny Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 4)This Act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1883 *The Mutiny Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict c 7) *The Mutiny Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict c 9) *The Mutiny Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict c 3) *The

Mutiny Act 1873 The Mutiny Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict c 10) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and one of a succession of such Mutiny Acts. The preamble to the Act stated that it was necessary to provide "a more speedy punishment than the usual fo ...

(36 & 37 Vict c 10) *The Mutiny Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict c 4) *The Mutiny Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c 7) *The Mutiny Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict c 8) *The Mutiny Act 1877 (40 & 41 Vict c 7) *The Mutiny Act 1878The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland passed in the Forty-Second and Forty-Third Years of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Edward Bret Ince for the proprietors of the Law Journal Reports. London. 1879
p 340
(41 & 42 Vict c 10)

Marine Mutiny Acts

The Marine Mutiny Acts included the following Acts: *The Marine Mutiny Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict c 8) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict c 8) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict c 4) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict c 10) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict c 15) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 5) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict c 8) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict c 10) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict c 4) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict c 11) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict c 5) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict c 9) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1877 (40 & 41 Vict c 8) *The Marine Mutiny Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict c 11)This Act was repealed by section 54 of, and th
Schedule
to, the Regulation of the Forces Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict c 57), subject to the proviso in section 54.

References

*Report from the Select Committee on Mutiny and Marine Mutiny Acts. 26 July 1878. (C 316). Reports from Committees. Session 17 January to 16 August 1878. Volume 10
Page 253
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutiny Acts, The 1689 in law Acts of the Parliament of England Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom United Kingdom military law