Regulation of the Forces Act 1871
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Regulation of the Forces Act, 1871
(34 & 35 Vict.) CHAP. 86.
An Act for the better Regulation of the Regular and Auxiliary Land Forces of the Crown; and for other purposes relating thereto.
[17th August 1871]
Whereas it is expedient to provide for the better regulation of the regular and auxiliary land forces of the Crown, and for other purposes relating thereto:
And whereas by Royal Warrant, dated the twentieth day of July one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, all regulations regulating or fixing the prices at which any commissions in Her Majesty's Forces may be purchased, sold, or exchanged, or in any way authorising the purchase or sale or exchange for money of any such commissions, from and after the first day of November one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in this Act referred to as the said appointed day, have been cancelled and determined:
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Preliminary.
Preliminary.
1 Short title of Act.
1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as ‘TheRegulation of the Forces Act, 1871.’
PART I.
Commissions in Her Majesty's Forces.
2 No punishment for sale, &c. of commissions previous to appointed day.
2. No person shall be punished under the Acts fifth and sixth Edward the Sixth, chapter sixteen, and forty-ninth George the Third, chapter one hundred and twenty-six, or either of them, or by or in pursuance of the sentence of any court-martial, for any offence committed previously to the said appointed day in relation to any purchase, sale, or exchange of commissions having a regulation price, or in relation to any bargain, act, or deed relating, thereto.
3 Compensation to officers holding saleable commissions.
3. Every officer holding on the said appointed day a saleable commission in Her Majesty's Army shall, on his retirement under the circumstances herein-after mentioned, be entitled in respect of such commission to receive, on application to the Commissioners appointed under this Act, and in this Act referred to as the Commissioners, such price or sum as is herein-after mentioned; that is to say,
(1) 1. Where such officer is permitted to retire from a regiment in the Army under circumstances in which, if the said Royal Warrant had not issued, he would have been permitted to retire by sale of his commission:
He shall be entitled to receive a sum equal to the estimated price at which the commission held by him on the said appointed day would have been saleable if the said Royal Warrant had not issued.
(2) 2. Where such officer is permitted to retire on full pay or to go on half pay, on promotion or otherwise, and proves to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that he would, if the said Royal Warrant had not issued, have on such retirement received according to the custom of his regiment a certain sum of money:
He shall be entitled to receive the over-regulation price of the commission which was held by him on the said appointed day.
(3) 3. Where such officer being on half pay is permitted to retire from the Army by commutation of his half pay, and proves to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that if the said Royal Warrant had not issued he would have been eligible, by the regulations of the Army in force at the time of the passing of this Act, for retirement by sale of his commission, whether on exchanging to full pay or otherwise:
He shall be entitled to receive such sum, if any, as, in addition to the sum paid by the Commutation Board under the Pensions Commutation Act, 1869, will amount to the regulation price of the saleable commission held by him on the said appointed day.
Provided that—
The number of half-pay officers of each rank entitled in any one year to receive compensation on retirement shall not exceed the limit specified in the table in the schedule hereto.
‘A saleable commission’ in this Act means a commission in the Army in respect of which Her Majesty's warrant for the pay and promotion of the Army, and the regulations of the Army in force at the time of issuing of the said Royal Warrant provide that on the occasion of the holder vacating the same a certain price may be given.
‘The estimated price at which a commission would have been saleable if the said Royal Warrant had not issued’ shall in this Act be the regulation price of such commission, together with the over-regulation price, if any.
‘The regulation price of a commission’ shall mean the price authorised to be given or received in respect of such commission by Her Majesty's warrant for the pay and promotion of the Army, and the regulations of the Army in force at the time of the issuing of the said Royal Warrant, and in the case of an officer holding, on the said appointed day, a commission, the full price of which (if such commission were sold on that day) he would not be entitled to receive, shall include any allowance made in respect of such commission by the said warrant and regulations on account of service, whether performed before or after the said appointed day.
‘The over-regulation price’ of a commission in any regiment shall be the customary sum, if any, payable in that regiment beyond the regulation price on the occasion of such commission being vacated, and shall be determined by the Commissioners, as nearly as may be, according to the custom prevalent in the regiment prior to the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Where an officer retires from the Army in a higher rank than that held by him on the said appointed day, and proves to the Commissioners that he has served previously to the said appointed day a number of years, the value of which service, calculated as herein-after mentioned, amounts to a sum exceeding the regulation price of the commission held by him on the said appointed day, then, if otherwise entitled, he shall receive, instead of the regulation price of such last-mentioned commission, the value of such service, calculated as aforesaid, to an amount not exceeding, the regulation price of a commission of the rank next above the rank held by him on the said appointed day.
The rate at which the value of such service as aforesaid shall be calculated shall, in the case of service as an officer, be fifty pounds for every year of home service, and one hundred pounds for every year of foreign service, and in the case of service in the ranks shall be twenty-five pounds for every year of home service, and fifty pounds for every year of foreign service.
No officer shall receive over-regulation price under this Act who has at any time previously realized such price or any part thereof.
No officer, on retirement from the Army, shall receive in pursuance of this Act a greater sum in respect of such retirement than he would have received if the said Royal Warrant had not issued.
4 Compensation to officers of certain Indian regiments.
4. The Commissioners shall have power to consider the claims on retirement of an officers who on the said appointed day are serving in the regiments of the line following, that is to say, the cavalry regiments...
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