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DESERTION
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DESERTION , the See also:act of forsaking or abandoning; more particularly, the wilful See also:abandonment of an employment or of See also:duty, in violation of a legal or moral See also:obligation. The offence of See also:naval or military desertion is constituted when a See also:man absents himself with the intention either of not returning or of escaping some important service, such as embarkation for See also:foreign service, or service in aid of the See also:civil See also:power. In the See also:United See also:Kingdom desertion has always been recognized by the civil See also:law, and until 1827 (7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 28) was a See also:felony punishable by See also:death. It was subsequently dealt with by the various See also:Mutiny Acts, which were replaced by the See also:Army Act 1881, renewed annually by the Army (See also:Annual) Act. By § 12 of the act every See also:person subject to military law who deserts or attempts to See also:desert, or who persuades or procures any person to desert, shall, on conviction by See also:court See also:martial, if he committed the offence when on active service or under orders for active service, be liable to suffer death, or such less See also:punishment as is mentioned in the act. When the offence is committed under any other circumstances, the punishment for the first offence is imprisonment, and for the second or'any subsequent offence penal See also:servitude or such less punishment as is mentioned in the act. § 44 contains a See also:scale of punishments, and §§ 175-184 an enumeration of persons subject to military law. By § 153 any person who persuades a soldier to desert or See also:aids or assists him or conceals him is liable, on conviction, to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for not more than six months. § 154 makes See also:provision for the See also:apprehension of deserters. § 161 See also:lays down that where a soldier has served continuously in an exemplary manner for not less than three years in any See also:corps of See also:regular forces he is not to be tried or punished for desertion which has occurred before the commencement of the three years. Desertion from the regular forces can only be tried by a military court, but in the See also:case of the See also:militia and reserve forces desertion can be tried by a civil court. The Army Act of 1881 made a welcome distinction between actual desertion, as defined at the commencement of this See also:article, and the quitting one See also:regiment in See also:order to enlist in another. This offence is now separately dealt with as fraudulent enlistment; formerly, it was termed "desertion and fraudulent enlistment," and the See also:statistics of desertion proper were consequently and erroneously magnified. The See also:gross See also:total of desertions in the See also:British Army in an See also:average See also:year (1903–1604) was nearly 4000, or I.4% of the average strength of the army, but owing to men rejoining from desertion, fraudulent enlistment, &c., the See also:net loss was no more than 1286, i.e. less than '5%. The army of the United States suffers very severely from desertion, and very few deserters rejoin or are recaptured (see See also:Journal of the See also:Roy. United Service Inst., See also:December 1905, p. 1469). In the year 1900-1901, 3110 men deserted (4.3% of average strength); in 1901–1902, 4667 (or 5.9%) ; in 1904–1905, 6553 (or 6.8%); and in 1905–1906, 6258 out of See also:cress than 6o,000 men, or 7.4%. In all armies desertion while on active service is punishable by death; on the See also:continent of See also:Europe, owing to the See also:system of compulsory service, desertion is infrequent, and takes See also:place usually when the deserter wishes to leave his See also:country altogether. It was formerly the practice in the See also:English army to punish a man convicted of desertion by See also:tattooing on him the See also:letter " D " to prevent his re-enlistment, but this has been See also:long abandoned in deference to public See also:opinion, which erroneously adopted the See also:idea that the " marking " was effected by red-hot irons or in some other manner involving See also:torture. The See also:Navy Discipline Act 1866, and the Naval Deserters Act 1847, contain similar provisions to the Army Act of 1881 for dealing with desertions from the navy. In the United States navy the See also:term " straggling " is applied to See also:absence without leave, where the See also:probability is that the person does not intend to desert. The United States See also:government offers a monetary See also:reward of between $20 and $30 for the See also:arrest and delivery of deserters from the army and navy. In the British See also:merchant service the offence of desertion is defined as the abandonment of duty by quitting the See also:ship before the termination of the engagement, without See also:justification, and with the intention of not returning. Desertion is also the term applied to the act by which a man abandons his wife and See also:children, or either of them. Desertion of a wife is a matrimonial offence; under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, a See also:decree of judicial separation may be obtained in See also:England by either See also:husband or wife on the ground of desertion, without cause, for two years and upwards (see also See also:DIVORCE). For the desertion of children see CHILDREN, LAW See also:RELATING TO; See also:INFANT. (T. A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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