court of Inquiry
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Why is this court of inquiry mentioned in this diary, the soldier in question being from the 2 R.I.Regiment?
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Maybe the Author was presiding at the Court of Inquiry.
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by
cyngast
moderator
It could be that the author was a member of the Court of Inquiry, or it could be that evidence from a medical officer was required by the court. This might be something like a self-inflicted wound or stealing equipment or other supplies from the Field Ambulance.
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Was there not such a thing like a permanent military court?
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
At the time, there was a Judge Advocate General (JAG) - the army's lawyer. They would appoint various legally-trained deputies to advise court martials, which were convened on an ad-hoc basis from officers who were available. There was also a system in place that was supposed to prevent any miscarriages of justice - in Field General Court Martials, the accused man was allowed to nominate an officer to represent him, or to object to the composition of the court itself if they felt it was biased against them.
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by
David_Underdown
moderator
I think the Court of Inquiry enquired into the facts around a particular event to determine (in part) if a court martial etc was actually required. If a suspected self-inflicted wound was found to be genuinely accidental that would be the end of it, otherwise the man concerned would find himself up on charges before a court martial. More like the idea of a grand jury (now only found in the US, but formerly used in England too), or when a coroner's jury could bring in a verdict of murder against particular named individuals which would probably lead to their arrest and so on.
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