# Naval Discipline Act 1860, Section XLI: Power of Court-martial to find Prisoner guilty of lesser Offence on Charge of greater.


Where any Prisoner shall be charged with Murder, a Court-martial may find him guilty of Manslaughter or of a Common Assault; where he shall be charged with Sodomy, a Court-martial may find him guilty of an indecent Assault; where he shall be charged with Theft, a Court-martial may find him guilty of an Attempt to thieve, or of Embezzlement, or of wrongful Appropriation of Property belonging to another; and generally where any Prisoner shall be charged with any Offence under this Act he may upon Failure of Proof of the Commission of the greater Offence be found guilty of another Offence of the same Class, involving a less Degree of Punishment, but not of any Offence involving a greater Degree of Punishment.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/23-24/123/section/XLI (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/naval-discipline-act-1860/section-XLI
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.