Constitution
The court was a statutory court established under an act of the British Parliament. The court had virtually unlimited powers to deal with criminal offences. The court was constituted by a Deputy Judge Advocate, or as the office came to be more commonly called, “Judge-Advocate”. He sat with six military officers to constitute the tribunal. The first deputy judge advocate was David Collins.
In its early days, the court was convened when required. It was convened following a precept issued by the governor under his hand and seal. There were therefore no regular sittings during the early years of the settlement, and it met only whenever the governor summoned it.
Read more about this topic: Court Of Criminal Jurisdiction
Famous quotes containing the word constitution:
“They’re two good old friends of mine. I call them Constitution and The Bill of Rights. A most dependable team for long journeys. Then I’ve got another one called Missouri Compromise. And a Supreme Court—a fine, dignified horse, though you have to push him on every now and then.”
—Dan Totheroh (1895–1976)
“A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“Can you conceive what it is to native-born American women citizens, accustomed to the advantages of our schools, our churches and the mingling of our social life, to ask over and over again for so simple a thing as that “we, the people,” should mean women as well as men; that our Constitution should mean exactly what it says?”
—Mary F. Eastman, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4 ch. 5, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)