| Abstract: | The ‘Boydell gap’ remedy in modern military law, which was prompted by a Divisional Court ruling in 1948, has been seen as authorizing the trial by court martial of those who, within the previous six months, had ceased to be subject to military law. The present paper argues, however, that Captain Boydell's case exposed primarily a territorial rather than a time-limitation obstacle to proceedings against ex-service personnel. Moreover, the case is historically significant in illuminating how the authorities wrestled with the problem of instituting criminal proceedings against military offenders such as black marketeers overseas when rapid demobilization was taking place. |
