§ Mr. SNOWDENasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if the Field-Marshal Commanding the Forces in France personally reads and examines the records of all field general courts-martial upon privates in which the sentence of death has been passed, and that before confirmation the Field-Marshal Commanding the Forces consults the Judge Advocate-General in France; and, if this be an incorrect statement of the position, whether he will explain who is the superior authority, if any, who examines judicially the record of the courts-martial in these cases before confirmation by the Field-Marshal Commanding?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThe Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief the Forces in France personally reads and examines the records of all courts-martial in which the sentence of death has been passed before he confirms the sentence, and in every such case receives the advice of the Deputy Judge Advocate-General in France before confirmation. He also receives reports from the Commanding Officer of the soldier under sentence and intermediate commanders. The second part of the question, therefore, does not arise.
§ 25. Mr. SNOWDENasked the UnderSecretary of State for War what is the average time that elapses between the passing of sentence of death on a private soldier of the Expeditionary Forces by field general court-martial and the carrying into execution of that sentence; whether many cases have occurred in which thirty-six hours only have elapsed between the passing of sentence and its execution; and if he will say what steps are taken under those circumstances to secure a proper consideration of the case by higher authority?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONIt is impossible to give the average time that elapses between the passing of sentence of death on a soldier and the carrying out of that sentence with exactness, because, in the first place, the proceedings do not always show the date when the sentence was carried out; and, secondly, it has not been found possible in the short time available to extract and examine every case since the commencement of the War received from every Expeditionary Force in order to make the necessary calculation. So far as I can judge, I should estimate that the average time would be somewhere about fourteen days. I am not aware of a single case in which the period has been so short as thirty-six hours. I think the hon. Member must be confusing the passing of sentence with promulgation of sentence, which takes place after confirmation and a comparatively short time before execution.
§ 26. Mr. SNOWDENasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether any medical examination of a soldier takes place after trial when the death sentence has been imposed and confirmed except where the soldier is wounded; and whether the records at the War Office reveal one solitary case in which such examination has taken place of a soldier executed for alleged cowardice whose defence was that he was suffering from shock?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI have written to France for full information as to the medical examination, particularly in shellshock cases. Perhaps my hon. Friend will be good enough to await the reply.
§ 27. Mr. SNOWDENasked the UnderSecretary of State for War if it is the practice to accept without opportunity of cross-examination the certificate of a military doctor that. a private soldier, 300 hitherto suffering from shell-shock, has been passed as fit to take part in operations on the field of battle, as a complete answer to a defence in a charge of alleged cowardice or desertion, that the conduct complained of was due to the return of the symptoms which the military doctor considered had disappeared?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThe answer is in the negative. The certificate of a military doctor cannot be received in evidence before a court-martial without calling the doctor as a witness to give evidence on oath upon which he can be cross-examined.
§ Mr. H. LAWCan the. hon. Gentleman say whether the medical evidence in these cases is that of specialists in nervous diseases or of ordinary R.A.M.C. officers?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThat is the point of a reply I gave before the Recess.