30-575: The Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 90) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to regulate mercenary activities of British citizens. It received royal assent on 9 August 1870. There was no common law prohibition on enlistment in foreign militaries, and mercenary services predated the development of professional armies. The Foreign Enlistment Act 1819 ( 59 Geo. 3 . c. 69) ( long title "An Act to Prevent
60-723: A committee ( Lord Diplock , Derek Walker-Smith and Geoffrey De Freitas ) to "Inquire into the Recruitment of Mercenaries". Its terms of reference included "possible amendment of the Foreign Enlistment Act", which the August 1976 "Diplock Report" described as "antiquated". Interviewed after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would "absolutely" support Britons volunteering to fight for Ukraine. This suggestion caused mixed reactions. Former Attorney General for England and Wales Dominic Grieve ,
90-520: A company of 60 men who helped chase the American Patriots from their position at a local farm. In 1840, Rankin married Mary McKee, great-granddaughter of Alexander McKee , Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They had two sons: George Cameron and Arthur McKee Rankin . After his discharge in 1843, Rankin organized nine Ojibwes from a reserve along the St. Clair River into a "wild west" show that toured
120-589: A crime to prepare for or conduct military expeditions, and made it a crime to aid or abet any violators of the act, or to induce a person's enlistment by misrepresentations. The 1870 act thus applied to wars between states in which Britain was neutral; during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), and Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), British officials blocked naval vessels from sailing to belligerents. Stephen presents late 19th century establishment views. Lorimer publishes
150-634: A former member of Truss's Conservative Party , said that Britons who fought in Ukraine would be violating the 1870 Act. By contrast, Sir Bob Neill , the chair of the House of Commons ' Justice Select Committee , called the Foreign Enlistment Act an "antiquated piece of legislation" that should not be enforced. The Westminster Act initially applied throughout the British Empire . After the Statute of Westminster 1931 it
180-534: A short title. Some of these acts have a short title given to them by later acts, such as by the Short Titles Act 1896 . The second session of the 20th Parliament of the United Kingdom , which met from 8 February 1870 until 10 August 1870. Arthur Rankin (surveyor) Arthur Rankin (1816 – March 13, 1893) was a surveyor , entrepreneur, militia officer, and political figure in Canada West . Rankin
210-467: A valid statute. 33 %26 34 Vict. This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the year 1870 . Note that the first parliament of the United Kingdom was held in 1801; parliaments between 1707 and 1800 were either parliaments of Great Britain or of Ireland ). For acts passed up until 1707, see the list of acts of the Parliament of England and the list of acts of
240-792: The Boer government there. Problems with evidence prevented the British government from convicting enlistees to the French Foreign Legion or those thousands who joined the fight against Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War . In 1975 the National Liberation Front of Angola advertised for recruits in the British press, prompting the Wilson ministry to get the Privy Council to appoint
270-510: The British Empire era, implemented many recommendations of a royal commission convened after the American Civil War . It clarified the scope of prohibited military activity (including making clear that the act only applied to "any foreign state at war with any foreign state at peace with Her Majesty" rather than all peacetime military service, to which the 1819 act extended); limited prison sentences for violations to two years; and made it
300-625: The Spanish American wars of independence . The 300 Britons who participated in the 1832 military campaign of Dom Pedro of Brazil against Portugal were also not prosecuted. Nor was any action taken against the Irish and Quebec Catholics (British subjects) who fought on behalf of the Papal States (as Zouaves ) in the late 1860s, during the Italian Risorgimento . Britain was neutral in
330-461: The list of acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland . The number shown after each act's title is its chapter number. Acts passed before 1963 are cited using this number, preceded by the year(s) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held; thus the Union with Ireland Act 1800 is cited as "39 & 40 Geo. 3 c. 67", meaning the 67th act passed during the session that started in
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#1732838605920360-441: The 39th year of the reign of George III and which finished in the 40th year of that reign. Note that the modern convention is to use Arabic numerals in citations (thus "41 Geo. 3" rather than "41 Geo. III"). Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and the first session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as "41 Geo. 3". Some of these acts have a short title . Some of these acts have never had
390-659: The American Civil War , yet more than 50,000 British North Americans (many Canadians) fought for the Union during the war , and a much smaller number for the Confederacy . There were only a handful of prosecutions. In the small number of prosecutions, the Canadian courts rejected all jurisdiction challenges raised by the accused, concluding that the imperial act applied in British North America. The highest-profile case
420-546: The British Isles with a special performance for Queen Victoria . He sold his show to George Catlin in 1844 and returned to Canada where he established the Sandwich Wester Standard and Western District General Advertiser with himself as publisher and editor. Rankin returned to surveying and, in 1846, discovered a large copper deposit at Bruce Mines , along the north shore of Lake Huron . He sold his share to
450-606: The Enlisting or Engagement of His Majesty’s Subjects to Serve in Foreign Service, and the Fitting out or Equipping, in his Majesty's Dominions, Vessels for Warlike Purposes Without His Majesty's Licence") was passed by in 1819. The law was passed to uphold British neutrality in the Spanish American wars of independence and made it a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment for British subjects to serve in foreign militaries. The 1819 Act
480-805: The Montreal Mining Company in 1847. In 1851, Rankin ran for a seat in the Legislative Assembly in Kent but was defeated by George Brown . He was elected to the 5th Parliament of the Province of Canada in Essex in 1854. He was implicated in an 1857 scandal involving the construction of a new railway line in south-western Canada West; Rankin was defeated in the election that followed. Shortly after that, he helped launch successful copper mining operations along Lake Superior and Lake Huron . In 1861, Rankin
510-555: The Parliament of Scotland . For acts passed from 1707 to 1800, see the list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain . See also the list of acts of the Parliament of Ireland . For acts of the devolved parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom, see the list of acts of the Scottish Parliament , the list of acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly , and the list of acts and measures of Senedd Cymru ; see also
540-594: The charge of enlistment to the Court of Queen's Bench ; ultimately, the prosecution was dropped. Rankin denounced the Foreign Enlistment Act as a violation of the rights he and other "Canadian gentlemen not only willing but eager to" fight for the Union as part of their "perfect right to enrol themselves in the cause of freedom – that of the North against the South". Parliament formally suspended
570-575: The imperial act ("An Act to Prevent Enlistment in the Services of Any Foreign State in Certain Cases not provided for by the Foreign Enlistment Act, 1870") as it applied in Canada. The bill went through a first and second reading but was dropped by Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie , who cited a lack of necessity for the law and expressed concerns that it might conflict with the imperial act. Foreign enlistment
600-589: The law of 1870 as it was originally enacted. Authorities in Britain generally did not enforce the act, and it was often ignored, both in Britain and in British North America (to which the act applied), except in rare situations in which the foreign military activity threatened British neutrality in armed conflicts. More than 5,000 Britons served with Simón Bolívar in the Albion Legion and other units during
630-632: The law on one occasion – in 1835, during the First Carlist War , for two years, permitting British subjects to join the army of Queen Isabella II of Spain . The last successful prosecution occurred in 1896 in the trial of Sir Leander Starr Jameson , who was convicted for leading the Jameson Raid , a raid from the Cape Colony into the South African Republic (Transvaal) in rebellion against
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#1732838605920660-510: The man from Cleveland , Ohio, to Toronto . Rankin transferred to the 2nd Battalion of Provincial Volunteer Militia and, in 1838, took part in the Battle of Windsor , fighting to recapture Pelee Island from the Patriots . Later that year, a group of patriots attacked Windsor , killing four militiamen, and setting fire to the British barracks, the steamer Thames , and several houses. Rankin mustered
690-570: Was arrested under the Foreign Enlistment Act and forced to resign from the Union Army; in 1863, his election was declared invalid. He was elected again in the general election of 1863. He was a strong supporter of the forming of a Canadian Confederation but did not win a seat in the election held in 1867 for the 1st Canadian Parliament . Rankin died in Windsor in 1893 after a long illness. He
720-683: Was born in Montreal in 1816, the son of Irish immigrants. He ran away from home at the age of 15, and became a cabin boy on a New York-to-London packet boat. In 1835, he returned to Canada and apprenticed with his brother, Charles Rankin , to be a surveyor in the Windsor area. In 1837, Rankin moved to Toronto where he received a commission as an ensign for the 2nd Queen's Light Infantry. While on leave in Ohio , Rankin attacked two bounty hunters who had captured an escaped slave from Kentucky . Rankin smuggled
750-613: Was conducted, prosecutors were hired, and warrants were issued for the arrest of participants in the recruiting network, but ultimately there were no prosecutions under the statute. Up to 40,000 Canadians enlisted in the U.S. military during the Vietnam Era . Although Canada was officially neutral in the conflict, no Canadian Vietnam War veteran was prosecuted for violation of the Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act of 1937. The Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act of 1937 remains
780-640: Was elected again in Essex. Later that year, he attempted to raise a regiment of Canadians, the 1st United States Lancer Regiment , to serve in the Union Army during the American Civil War . Rankin's proposed regiment was controversial in Canada; the Detroit Free Press praised him and predicted the popularity of the regiment, while the Montreal Gazette criticized him as a "Reckless soldier of fortune". He
810-531: Was gradually repealed or replaced by independent Commonwealth members. In the Republic of Ireland it was repealed as "inoperative" by the Statute Law Revision Act 1983 . The Province of Canada passed a clarifying statute in 1865, but it only applied to the Foreign Enlistment Act 1819 and lacked any force after the 1870 statute was enacted. In 1875, MP Télesphore Fournier introduced an act to clarify
840-816: Was not a political issue again in Canada until the 1930s. The Canadian Parliament enacted the Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act of 1937 due to concerns that it would not allow for the Canadian government to successfully convict the Communist Party of Canada 's ongoing effort to recruit Canadians for the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. The Act was passed in April 1937 and formally applied to circumstances in Spain by an order-in-council in July 1937. An investigation
870-530: Was rarely enforced. In 1833 MP John Murray proposed repeal, saying "There never was an Act of the Legislature so little under the general opinions of the country." That repeal effort failed, but the law remained ineffective. On 9 August 1870, in response to the Franco-Prussian War , Parliament repealed the 1819 Act and passed the 1870 Act, a redrafting of the prior legislation. The 1870 act, enacted during
900-515: Was that of Colonel Arthur Rankin , a militia officer of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada who in the summer of 1861 personally offered his services to Abraham Lincoln , accepted a Union commission and raised the First Michigan Lancers . Rankin was prosecuted in October 1861; the court rejected Rankin's arguments on jurisdiction, dropped the charge of "recruiting" and referred
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